Today Never Ends
by livelifefast11
Summary: Skye Stokes accepts a job at the Las Vegas Crime Lab, moving from Miami, Florida. She finds love, new friends and danger in the heart of Sin City.
1. Don't forget to remember us

_Has some CSI:Miami in it, since i've taken to Ryan Wolfe and absolutely love him. Not enough to be a crossover, but there are mentions of CSI:Miami._

[Miami, Florida]

[Skye Stokes' POV]

"Bye Ryan." I said, hugging my best friend and on-off love, Ryan Wolfe.

He hugged me tightly and let go, looking at me. His hazel eyes looked into my eyes sadly. "Do you have to go?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"Why couldn't you stay?"

"This is a great opportunity for me. To work in the second largest crime lab in the us. I wasnt going to turn away that opportunity. Not even for you, sweetie."

He smiled slightly. "But i thought you said you'd always be here for me. Always."

I smiled back. "I will. Just not in person. But in here." I touched his heart.

He took my hand. "That sounds great for a Disney thing, but not for me."

"You can call me whenever you need me, ok?"

"Ok." He sighed.

I knew something else was bothering him. "What do you wanna say, Ryan?"

"You worked with the largest crime lab, the best of the best at quantico. And you dropped like, 3 levels to work here and dropped 2 from Quantico to Sin City?! You pick Sin City over Quantico?!" He said.

I nodded. "Yes, you're correct."

Ryan looked at me like I was crazy.

"I'm not meant for Quantico! They're so serious."

"They're FBI." He said in a 'duh' tone.

"Yes, but i'm not meant to be a FBI."

"Fine. But Vegas? Why?"

"My cousin works with them. He's a CSI. They heard of me from a case where the vic was from Miami and in our system. I found info they needed, i worked with them technically. They decided to look me up and saw that i was good enough to work for them. They offered me a job, i accepted. Easy as that, Ryan."

Ryan sighed. "My sweet little Texan girl turned Miami babe now leaving me to go work at Sin City. What am i gonna do now?"

"Get a life?" I suggested gleefully.

He scowled but laughed. "Maybe."

"Flight 119 to Las Vegas, now boarding."

I looked at Ryan. "This is it."

He tried to look tough, but he played with his hands and bit his lip; a habit which i had gotten to know that meant 'i'm holding myself together on the inside because i'm either nervous/scared/angry/sad and trying to hide it and look tough.'

"I'll miss you, Ryan." I said softly.

His tough mask fell apart and he hugged me again. "Don't leave." Ryan whispered in my ear.

I pulled back, his plea bringing tears to my eyes. He was my best friend, we were only friends a little under a year. He was the newbie, he had a hard time getting people to like him after replacing Tim Speedle who died in the line of duty.

So i was Ryan's only friend the first few months.

He now gotten the team to tolerate him, if not like him already. He'd be fine without me.

I saw my family in my mind, my Miami family. Horatio, Alexx, Calleigh, and Eric. Tim Speedle was even there, still a part of my family.

And i looked into Ryan's hazel eyes, seeing the wide-eyed guy that was the newest member of that family.

"I have to leave. You can take care of yourself, you have Horatio. And Eric, of course." I teased, as ERic Delko and Ryan didnt get along too well. "Visit me in Vegas. We'll hit the casinos and have fun. You just be good and don't do anything stupid."

"Last call for Flight 119 to Las Vegas Nevada."

"I have to go. I love you, Ryan."

Ryan looked at me and leaning in, he hesitated, letting me choose.

I finished the journey and kissed him. It was a brief sweet kiss, and i pulled back.

"Dont forget to remember us." He let me go, but held my hand.

I smiled. "As long as ya'll dont forget me." I said and started to step back.

"We wont. Next time i see you, it'll be Vegas for a party." Ryan smiled. "Call me when you land in Sin City."

I nodded. "I will. Bye, Ryan." I said and let go of his hand.

"Bye Skye."

I turned, not looked back once for fear that i'll just run back into Ryan's arms and stay in Miami. I wanted to move on, i wanted this new opportunity. So i got on the plane, found my seat and sat down, settling in for the 5hour flight.

Soon the plane took off, leaving sunny, familiar Miami, Florida to a scorching dry heat Las Vegas Nevada.

Only differance between when i arrived in Miami & Vegas was that in Vegas i had someone waiting for me, my cousin, Nick Stokes.

But we both didnt know what was in store for me.

After all it was Las Vegas.

[*]


	2. Let's blow something up!

_I am not really gonna write much from Nick's POV, so...yeah. Jus sayin. :) R&R please! _

[Las Vegas, Nevada]

[Nick Stokes' POV]

"Skye!" I said, seeing my petite cousin's dark hair, her now tan face, and the most familiar thing: her confused face. Eyes darting about, slightly wider than usual and her biting her pink lip.

She lugged her neon blue suitcase towards the exit of the airport and not caring about people, I stood on a chair and yelled her name. Several times, and each time, louder. "Skye Stokes!"

She finally turned around, seeing my wave my arms in the air and grinned. A huge grin lit her face and she left her luggage at the door, running to me, tackling me with a bear hug. "Nicky!"

"Hey cousin! Welcome to Vegas!" I said, cheerfully.

Skye smiled. "Hi Nick."

"Still got that Texan accent."

"Unfortunately." Skye laughed. "With a hint of Virginia, plus a good bit of Miami."

"You look it. What did they do to you?!" I said, eyeing my baby cousin.

She was tan, her once pale skin a golden color; she had the same straight almost black hair, long, to the bottom of her ribcage; her blue eyes shone, sparkled and popped against her tan skin.

Skye was a petite girl that was fit and did rough things. Instead of becoming a cheerleader, she was a softball player, a go-kart racer, and rode horses in college.

She looked more than prepared for now than she was last time she visited. Packed jeans, hoodies, long-sleeved t-shirts since it was cold leaving Virginia in November and landing in hot Nevada.

This time she wore black low top converse with a black sundress and white denim jacket over it.

She slipped on sunglasses as she pulled her suitcase outside the airport. Hot air hit us, but I was used to it.

I looked at Skye who made a face but seemed to have no other effect. "How hot is it?"

"80 degrees. The sun's setting, it'll get cooler."

"Yeah. Humidity?"

"I think 11%."

"Ah. It's 60% in Miami."

"Ugh. I don't like Miami air. It's like breathing in water." I said.

"How do you live here? It's so dry and…bone dry." Skye said, as we reached the car. "And Nicky, really? Ain't this a little too big for just one guy?" She questioned, looking at the Denali.

"It's LVPD's." I said, throwing her suitcase in the backseat, getting in and starting it up.

She looked around, looking a little out of her element. "We have Hummers."

"Hummers, gas guzzling silver cubes." I said.

She laughed, her laugh light and airy. "Yeah. But the Denali isn't any better only it's a black rectangle."

"You've got a point." I said and pulled out of the parking lot and got onto the freeway.

Skye manned the radio, searching the stations, unfamiliar with the stations here. Finally she left it on a country station that I liked and we both belted out songs as I drove.

"So how was your flight?" I asked in-between songs.

"You know how God's gonna come one day and take the good ones to Heaven on like, chariots? Well, I felt like this was how God was gonna send all the bad ones to Hell. On. That. Flight."

I laughed. "Skye, really."

"No, Nick! I'm serious! This fat dude was eating all over me and he took ate my chips when he thought I was asleep. My seat couldn't recline back, it was stuck; and this obnoxious kid kept kicking the back of my seat!" Skye exclaimed, her aqua blue eyes wide.

I smiled at the eyes, she did that when she was confused, surprised, or had any strong emotion. I guessed that the memory of the 5 hour flight was making her frustrated.

Nevertheless, I just laughed at her. "Sucks for you then."

"Shut up, Nicky." She changed the station and turned the volume up on some ugly-sounding death-metal rock crap.

"What is this?" I made a face as a guy began to scream the lyrics.

"Marilyn Manson."

That screaming sounded familiar.

Skye started to air-drum and it hit me. I remembered why and how it was familiar.

"Greg!"

Skye stopped. "What?"

"Greg listens to that crap. I mean music. No never mind. Crap. It's crap."

"Who's Greg?"

"Remember I told you that story of that one guy who was looking at his date's DNA?" I asked.

"Yes." She said carefully.

"That's Greg. He's the labrat you're helping to replace. His sister Erica is filling the spot but we are a little overwhelmed in the lab with a labrat going to the day shift. But Greg likes this junk." I said.

Skye changed the station to a country station. "Oh ok."

"I've forgotten what you do in the lab. Erica does DNA, I'm not sure what you can do."

"Everything. I've learned how to do everything in Houston, Quantico and Miami. Everything except video/audio stuff and tox. That I can't do."

"All right." I said, slightly impressed.

The sun had set, and the lights of Vegas looked great.

"Wow. Vegas is beautiful at night." Skye looked out the window at the lights of The Strip.

I thought of the murders, homicides, break-ins, the things I saw on graveyard. "Ha!" I said then I looked at Skye's confused face and smiled. "Sorry. I forgot you're technically a tourist."

"I know. I'll get used to it and be just as unimpressed as it like you are eventually." She smiled.

"Yup." I said and drove to the crime lab. "Skye, I'm sorry. But I'm late for my shift. I had planned on dropping you off at my place before I went to work but traffic getting to the airport was heavy and I'm late now."

"Ok, that's fine. I'd rather see what I'm supposed to do now instead of wander around your place, bored."

"All right." I said, and parked in my spot. We entered the building, and we entered the break room. As soon as we did, Grissom walked in.

"Nick, you're 30 minutes late." Grissom looked at me then at Skye. "Hello…"

"Skye Stokes." She said, facing him and shook his hand confidently, giving him that winning smile of hers. "You must be Mr. Grissom."

"Grissom will do." He smiled. "Nice to finally meet you."

"The pleasure is mine."

"She's why I'm late. Traffic at the airport was heavy and I had to pick her up." I said.

"Ok. Nick, db at the alley behind the Wynn hotel/casino. You and Warrick will go." Grissom handed me the slip.

"What about Skye?"

"Nick, Griss; I--oh heyy." I heard a familiar voice say.

I turned to see Greg Sanders at the door, catching a glimpse of Skye.

"That a suspect? Can I take her DNA?" He asked hopefully.

I felt like smacking him. Then I looked at Grissom's face and wanted to laugh.

"No, Greg. This is Skye Stokes, Nick's cousin. She will be joining us in the lab. She is one of the best out there, worked at Houston, _Quantico_with the FBI, and she left her job as head in the lab in Miami, Florida to come work here. She is not a suspect, so the answer to your second question is no, you cannot take her DNA." Grissom said, not amused.

Skye looked at him, amused, as Greg blushed.

I grinned. Greg's face was the expression of "putting your foot in your mouth."

Then finally the both of us couldn't hold in our snickers and we laughed a bit.

"I feel like a retard now." Greg said, biting his lip.

Grissom looked like he wanted to agree. But stayed quiet.

"I would too if I said that." Skye grinned, her Southern accent noticeable. Greg looked miserable, already made a bad impression but Skye just went to him. "But hey, it's fine. Gave me a good laugh in this long day. I needed it."

Greg's eyes lit up with her words. "Ok." He managed and I tried not to laugh at his stammering in the presence of a pretty girl.

Skye went back to the table and picked up her bag and took out a file, handing it to Grissom. "Here's some paperwork that I filled out on the plane so I can start to work here. I didn't want to waste time doing paperwork when I should be learning the ropes around here."

Grissom took it, impressed. "Thank you, Skye. This makes my job a lot easier."

"Griss, what will we do with Skye? I've got to get to the crime scene."

"I can show her around til your shift's over, Nick." Greg said and I spotted his sparkling brown eyes scan, no, check out my baby cousin's profile.

I casually stepped into his line of sight, blocking Greg from Skye who didn't notice the move. "I don't know, Greg. You see, she's Texan and kinda crazy."

"Excuse me?!" Skye screeched.

"You're excused." I told her.

"Nick, get to that scene now. Skye, Greg will show you around and he'll show you to your lab. You can start on some evidence if you like, it's up to you completely. I'm sure Greg will talk about everything at least once. Good luck, Skye." He said in a no-nonsense voice and left the room.

Greg looked pleased, and I turned to Skye who was eyeing Greg back, her keen blue eyes scanning him up and down. "Behave."

She smiled, looking at Greg. "I'm in a destructive mood. Let's blow something up!"

"We can do that." Greg grinned.

"Sk--"

Grissom looked at me. "Now, Nick!"

I reluctantly left the break room. "Fine, but when you get back and half the building's gone; don't blame me cuz I told you so." I said, then left.

[*]


	3. My parents were hippies

_Sorry it took so long, i had to kind of do this chapter with my friend as her story's intertwined with my own. Enjoy!_

[Skye's POV]

Nick and Grissom left, leaving me and this guy alone.

I looked at him.

He wore jeans and a cool black tshirt which had what looked like silver paint splatters on it and he wore black converse on his feet. He was average height and fit.

I saw that he had mischievous brown puppy dog eyes, a goofy grin that I immediately liked, and his hair was long, a light brown color with random patches of blond. Looked like he bleached his hair by himself. But I liked it, it was different than Nick's short black hair or Grissom's graying cut.

As soon as I saw him, I was stunned for a second, not even breathing for seconds. He looked a little like Ryan Wolfe. For a split second, I thought Ryan beat me to Vegas. But Ryan's hair was darker, he had hazel eyes that were more serious.

Either way, I liked Greg. Plus the whole "foot in the mouth" moment was priceless.

"I'm Greg Sanders." He introduced himself.

"Skye Stokes."

"Nick's been talking about you."

"Really?" I asked. Nick and I weren't the closest or very friendly to each other, but we did act civil to each other and had our moments.

"Yeah. Says--and I qoute: 'She's crazy to leave Quantico to go work in Miami where you don't breathe air, you breathe water.' "

I laughed. "Yeah. But the FBI and I weren't meant to be. They're really serious. No fun. I loved the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. The team was my family. I--crap!" I said, remembering about Ryan and how I was supposed to call him.

"What?" Greg asked, alarmed.

"Nothing. I just need to call Ryan." I said, checking the time on my cell phone. It was 7:30pm here, 9:30 on the East Coast in Miami. Ryan would be awake, so I dialed his number.

"Who's Ryan?" Greg asked, a twinge of jealousy and curiosity in his voice.

"He's--"

"Hello? Skye?" Ryan picked up.

"Hey, Ryan. It's me."

"Oh, you were worrying me. I thought something went wrong."

I shook my head though Ryan couldn't see it. "Oh no, I'm fine. I just forgot to call. Sorry."

"It's fine. How was the flight?"

I was aware that Greg was right next to me, casually eavesdropping on my phone conversation and was able to hear Ryan. "It was fine."

"Was it?" Greg asked quietly.

"It sucked." I mouthed.

Greg laughed quietly as Ryan said "Glad to hear the flight was good. Are you at your cousin's now?"

"No. Nick was running late so he dropped me off at work. He had to work and didn't want to leave me alone to blow up his house or something."

"But it's…7 your time." Ryan sounded confused.

"He works the graveyard shift. And apparently, so do I."

"oh."

"Yeah. So I'm here in Sin City, safe and sound." I smiled.

Greg and Ryan laughed at the statement.

"That's good, Skye. Be careful, ok?"

"I will."

"I…WE miss you already." Ryan said.

"I miss you too, Ryan. Tell the team the same." I said. "I wish you could be here. Vegas is so pretty at night."

"Pretty." Greg echoed, with a smile. I knew he was thinking of all the cases he had worked on during the night shift.

Vegas had its ugly night side too, the one I would soon see. But for now, all I saw was it's pretty tourist-capturing side.

"I bet it is cuz you're there now."

I felt my cheeks heat. "I think I've got to find my lab and get started on stuff. I'll call you later, ok?"

"Ok. I love you."

I paused. "I love you too, Ryan. Tell everyone I said hi."

"Will do. Bye."

"Bye." I hung up.

"Was that your boyfriend?" Questioned Greg.

"Um…Kinda. We've been on-off since we met." I said, wondering if Ryan and I could work out with me so far away. Then I decided to get the subject off me, and onto something else. Like Greg. "So how about you? You have a girlfriend?"

He blushed a little then looked to his shoes then back at me. "No." he said kind of ashamed, dully, and embarrassed.

I figured that he obviously wasn't a womanizer like my cousin was, I decided to flatter him a little. "Weird. I thought you would. You're really cute."

Greg's eyes lit up and I knew I made his day. Or night. Whichever way Greg thought of it.

I spotted a adorable blush on his cheeks and wondered how far I could push it. "Cuz you know, you have really pretty eyes. I don't think I know a girl that could resist those big puppy dog eyes."

He blushed furiously, his face turning a hot pink.

I had enough of making him blush with words, I wondered what would happen if I actually got near him. "And your hair looks so soft." I said, then stepped right infront of him, our bodies just inches away and I kept my eyes on his as I ran my hand through his hair. Given, it was soft.

"You're cuter up close, Greg." I breathed, a slight smile on my face.

He turned red as a tomato and he smiled, looking down at me; our faces just inches away. "You're just messing with me now, arent you?"

I laughed, stepping back. "Yeah I am, but it's true. All of it. And your face looks hot. Literally. If I throw water on it, will it sizzle off?"

He chuckled. "Maybe."

"I bet. So you gonna show me around or do you want me to keep sweet-talking you to see how red you can get?"

Greg smiled as he led the way out of the break room. "How bout I show you around and you keep sweet-talking me?"

"I'd rather have the tour then sweet-talking. Mainly cause I have nothing else to go off on." I laughed.

"Fine." He agreed with a goofy grin and proceeded to show me around.

Greg was a great tour guide, showing me and introducing me to all the labrats who greeted me nicely and with a little bit of awe, as somehow they all heard where I worked and things.

Only one who I didn't really like was Hodges, who tried to flirt with me badly, but when Greg blew him off, he got nasty, subtly insulting Greg, I defended him then Hodges ultimately decided to ignore the both of us as we did to him.

Now Greg and I were walking down the hall, discussing scuba diving. He asked if I went in Miami, I told him yes then he told me that he knew how to scuba dive too.

"I was just there, then I saw this dead body, tied to a rock. I went around a corner and there it was. I like, screamed underwater and quickly retreated to the surface and ran out of the water onto the shore, screaming for Eric Delko, my friend. He was laughing his face off, he planted the dummy there on purpose to freak me out."

Greg laughed. "Aw, poor you. My first time, I was spazzing out too. I forgot how to breathe for a second or two."

"Aw, true love right there, look at The One and stop breathing for a couple seconds." A joking female voice said. "So I read from Greg's diary."

I looked away from Greg's brown eyes to identical brown ones.

A pretty girl stood there, infront of us. She looked like Greg, just a female version. Her hair was down, it was wavy and dirty blonde.

"I don't have a diary." Greg said, and grinned. "Hey Erica."

She smiled, her eyes flicking from Greg to me, then back to Greg.

"This is Skye Stokes, Nick's cousin; Skye, this is Erica Sanders, my little sister and Nick's girlfriend."

"Hi." Erica said, her smile friendly.

"Hi." I replied. "I didn't know Nicky had a girlfriend."

Her smile faltered a little. "He didn't tell you?"

I felt bad a bit and quickly said, "Nick's not an open book when it comes to spilling the beans on his love life."

She nodded a little. "oh."

"Don't worry. I was gonna find out one way or another."

"Erica told me 10 minutes after Nick asked her out. She can't keep a secret in for more than 5 minutes. Nick keeps his secrets well, secret."

I nodded. "How long have you two been dating?"

"2 weeks." Both Sanders said in unison, but in different tones. Erica like a lovestruck schoolgirl, and Greg like a cranky disapproving old man.

Obviously the two had different feelings about my cousin.

I just smiled at them and Erica decided to get the subject off her and onto her brother. "Ya know, Greggo, I thought you _finally_ got a girlfriend."

Greg looked a little embarrassed and hurt, but covered it up with a awkward laugh. "Uh, no."

"I can't believe he doesn't have one, Greg's really cute." I offered, trying to bring a genuine smile to Greg's face.

Greg smiled at me and I smiled back.

_Wow, his eyes are pretty. _I thought.

"Well, I can believe it." Erica grinned.

Greg made a face and Erica did one right back at him.

"Family. Gotta love them."

"Eh. I'm related to a loser." Erica said.

"So am I." I smirked. "Nick's my cousin."

Greg laughed. "I'm related to a freak."

"I'm not a freak!" Erica argued.

"I beg to differ. When we were little you sacrificed your Barbie dolls' heads to the Egyptian sun god, Rah!"

I burst into laughter but stopped immediately, looking to the ceiling.

Erica was silent and then said "You know what? I gotta get to my lab. Nice meeting you, Skye. I like your name, by the way." She said as she walked away.

"Thanks. My parents were hippies." I joked.

"Bye baby sister, I love you!" Greg shouted towards her.

"I'm going to flush your coin collection down the toilet, Greg!" She said back and rounded the corner, leaving.

Greg laughed and I smiled. "Wow, you guys are…different."

He nodded. "Sibling love. Can't you feel it?"

"Sure, you can say that."

"Well, come on. There's still one more thing on my tour of this place." Greg said.

I huffed a little. "Still more?"

Greg smiled his goofy adorable smile. "Just one more thing."

"Really? You said that 3 times this past hour."

"I promise. Eagle Scout's honor. Come on." Greg said.

I smiled and followed Greg down the hall, wondering where he was taking me now.


	4. I knew you'd fall for me

_um, i dont have much to say for this chapter. Except that review button down at the bottom? Well, i loves you and wants you to click on it and write anything. :) So...hint hint, nudge nudge, cough. Uh, guess that's it. Enjoy!_

[*]

"Ready?" Greg Sanders asked, eyes bright.

"Yes." I said calmly, as opposed to his bubbly can't-contain-the-excitement self.

"Ok, brilliant. Come on." He said and walked into the spacious lab.

I walked in and took a look at all the equipment. Newer, cleaner, better than the ones at the Miami-Dade PD. I looked with a bit of envy at the lucky lab tech's stuff.

The lab itself was nice, open and clean. Much different than my old one in Miami. This one wasn't like the others, all glass, but one wall of glass and the rest wall. I spotted a nice big window with a view of the Vegas lights a little bit away.

"Oh, it's a very nice lab." I said, touching a computer's mouse. At the soft tap, the screen came alive and a Las Vegas PD wallpaper appeared.

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah. Will I get one like this one?" I asked, hopeful.

The young CSI laughed. "This is _your_ lab, silly."

I grinned. "Really? Wow, it's great! A bit better than my Miami one."

"Glad you like it, Stokes." Greg said, sitting down in the swivel chair. "I used to work in here sometimes, so some junk does come in here pretty often. Meaning you'll be receiving lots of work from everywhere. Trace, DNA, all that good stuff. Minus tox and ballistics."

"I think I can handle it." I said, determined.

"Fantastic. There's your first pile." Greg pointed to the end of the table, where piles of test tubes, evidence envelopes, files, packets, and various items cluttered the desk.

It was more than I expected and I groaned.

Greg laughed. "Don't worry, I'll help out for today. As you can tell, we got very backed up with the pd's best DNA tech going into the field."

"Way to toot your own horn and sound conceited, Sanders." I teased, pushing the chair away.

Greg rolled to a radio on a table near the window and turned it on. "It's a talent, yes I know." He grabbed a lab coat and tossed it to me. "We better get started. Do you like mainstream junk?"

"I like everything."

"Awesome. Lemme find this awesome polka channel I found the other day. You like polka, right?" He asked seriously.

_No. When I meant 'everything', I didn't really mean _everything. "Uh, if you want." I said.

He just smiled and tuned the radio. "Time to pump up the volume."

I braced myself for the horrifying noises, but all I heard was a relieving guitar riff. I turned to Greg. "No polka?"

"I hate the stuff. Wanting to see if you did, and apparently your poker face sucked."

I laughed. "Ok then." I turned and started to separate evidence packets from the files, from the tubes, from the packets, everything in little piles.

Journey's "Don't Stop Believin' " came on the radio and I grinned, I loved that song.

I stepped back to assess the piles of work and tripped over Greg's foot. I landed on, of course, Greg's lap.

"Hai thar." He grinned slyly. "I knew you'd fall for me. Just didn't know you'd do it literally."

I blushed. "I did not _fall_ for you. You _tripped_ me!"

Greg's contagious laughter filled the lab. "Either way, there you are."

Getting up, I started on a pile of stuff--a couple fingerprints, hairs, and fibers--as Greg took the bloody stuff for DNA. The song continued and alone, I sang, but I didn't like to sing with someone around to hear me. So I hummed the lyrics and allowed myself to shuffle from foot to foot rather than dance.

"DON'T STOP. BELIEEVVVIIIN! HOLD ON TO THAT FEEEEEEEEEEELING!" Greg sang loudly as it hit the chorus.

I looked at him and he grinned at me, singing and then putting getting away from the microscope, he started to dance crazily.

Laughing, I joined in with the singing and Greg came over to me and grabbed my gloved hands, dancing with me.

I allowed myself to dance and sing with Greg for a minute, but pushed him back to the microscope as I kept working.

Songs came and we sang to the ones we knew, talking to each other, and sneaking peeks at each other when we thought the other wasn't looking.

I was having a blast, and as we sang to a Bon Jovi song, it abruptly ended during Greg's guitar solo.

Turning from my chair, I looked towards the radio and saw a scary creepy-looking balding mousy man standing at it, the plug in his hand. "Sanders!"

"Yes?" Greg asked, sheepishly.

"If I hear this radio from down the hallway again, you're going to be suspended for disturbing the workplace."

I rolled infront of Greg. "It was my idea to turn it on, not Greg's. Sorry. Didn't mean to 'disturb the workplace' " I said.

He looked at me, pleasantly surprised, now nice and polite. "oh. It's quite all right. It's usually Sanders disrupting the work environment with his music."

"Not today, it's me. Sorry…."

"Ecklie. Conrad Ecklie." He smiled, and held out his hand.

I took it confident on the outside, and slightly freaked on the inside. "Skye Stokes."

"Stokes? I didn't know Nick was married." He frowned.

"Ew, no no no!" I almost shouted. "We're cousins."

Ecklie looked relieved, which freaked me out and disgusted me. "Ok. You used to be with the Miami-Dade crime lab, yes?"

"Yeah."

"I've heard good things about you, Miss St-- Miss, or Missus?" He asked, curiously.

"Miss. I'm single." I replied.

He looked delighted and I spotted a wedding band on his finger. I wanted to clean myself now. "Miss Skye Stokes."

"Yeah. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to get back to work." I said as politely as I could.

"Yes, of course. Welcome to the LVPD."

"Thank you." I said, turning back to my microscope, pretending to find this DNA very interesting.

As soon as he did, I swiveled to face Greg. "Was that real?!" I said in disbelief.

"Yeah! Wow, that's disgusting. He was so checking you out." Greg commented.

I made a face, then pretended to gag.

"Tell me about it. But hey, I don't blame him, you're really pretty." He said, his adorable blush spreading on his face.

My own cheeks heated. "Thanks." I replied, turning to the microscope and adjusting the slide.

"Thanks for taking the heat for me."

"No problem." I said.

As I looked into the lenses, I had to adjust them often so my tired eyes could see the fibers. I sat back and yawned. "What time is it?"

"10pm." Greg looked at his watch.

"It'd be midnight in Miami."

"We worked through half of this junk. Why don't we take a breather and get some coffee?"

"Ugh, office coffee? It's not even coffee, it's brown water. At least that's what it is in Miami. But then again, I could use it, even if it is crap."

"Oh, break room coffee here sucks too." Greg assured me. "But I have my own coffee from my own stash. It'll be the best coffee you ever will drink."

I gave him a doubtful look.

"Trust me." The young CSI said.

Looking into those deep brown eyes, I nodded. "Ok. Sounds great."

Getting up from his chair, he smiled at me. "You'll die and go to coffee heaven."

Doing the same, I said, "We'll see, Sanders."

[*]


	5. I like the way you think

_Sorry it took long, i meant to put this up earlier but the document manager wouldnt upload this thing so ugh. Anyways, here's chapter 5. :) Enjoy! and also review, por favor! Makes me feel special and more motivated. :)_

[Greg's POV]

"So…?" I asked, as Skye Stokes swallowed the sip of coffee.

She looked into her cup and then at me, a grin on her face. "You're right. I just died and went to coffee heaven." Her once tired and bloodshot turquoise blue eyes were bright and alert.

"I told ya so." Smiling, I sipped my own coffee.

Skye nodded. "You have an amazing taste in coffee. I so needed this."

"I could tell. But do me a favor, and don't tell anyone that you have this kind of coffee. They'll all come in and beg for it. I hate sharing my coffee, I don't share it with just anyone."

"Then how come you gave it to me?"

Skye had just given me the perfect chance to be smooth. If I can just pull it off…

"Cuz you're not _just _anyone." I told her, genuinely and with a wide grin.

I was rewarded with a dazzling smile, making my heart beat faster. Whether it was just the coffee or the sheer beauty of the Southern Belle in my presence, I couldn't tell. Probably both.

_Good job, Sanders. First time you managed to pull off that smooth line._ I congratulated myself.

"Thanks." Skye said and her cheeks glowed with a faint blush. "So now what?" She asked.

Before I could say anything, charming or nerdy; I was interrupted. "You can get me my DNA."

We looked to see Warrick Brown entering the break room.

Warrick was a handsome African-American man, skin the color of milk chocolate, and eyes as green as celery. He was muscular, more than I was-- Erica would say that anyone had more muscle than me, but I refused to believe her-- and like Nick, he was good with the ladies.

Skye grinned her winning smile at him, and Warrick smiled back, revealing a pair of perfect white teeth. Setting her cup of coffee down on the table she went to Warrick, confidently and picked a little piece of hair off his shirt, then took his hand with the other hand.

Placing the tiny thing in his palm, she said, "Here's your DNA."

Warrick laughed. "Not my actual DNA, but the one for my case, darling."

"Well, I tried. I'm Skye Stokes."

Warrick shook her hand, just as confident as she. "Warrick Brown."

"I'm the lab's newest labrat."

"All the way from Miami, I've heard. You any good at what you do?"

Skye looked insulted. "Yeah, I'm good." She said.

"Fantastic. I need that DNA." Warrick insisted.

"Ok." Skye grabbed her cup of coffee and headed to the door with Warrick.

I hung back the whole time, observing. If I didn't know better, I'd say the two immediately clicked, Warrick made a better first impression than I did.

"Hey, Greg. You coming? I can't find my way around here yet, I need you." Skye said, looking at me expectantly, actually needing me; Warrick looked at me amused, seeing that I was jealous.

I smiled to myself for a second, comparing the eyes, one pair wise but playful and the color of the grass in California; and the other pair young and sparkling, the color of the Pacific ocean.

"Yeah."

Leading the way to her lab, we chatted about the case and when we got there, Skye got Warrick his results. Discussing it for a couple minutes, he thanked Skye for it and proceeded to ask more questions.

"So where you from? Texas, like Nicky?"

Skye nodded. "Fort Worth. I've been at the Miami-Dade pd for two or so years til I came here."

"I've heard that Miami's nice."

She nodded. "It's gorgeous. Where are you guys from?" She asked, looking at Warrick, then me.

"Born, raised and lived in Vegas all my life." Warrick said. "Greggo's a rich little California boy."

"California's nice." Skye smiled.

"San Gabriel, California." I added.

Skye smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but Warrick said, "Bet you had all the Miami guys abuzz with that pretty face."

She turned her attention to Warrick and laughed. "Not really."

"You single?"

Skye hesitated and I knew she was thinking of Ryan Wolfe, the lucky one. "Uh, kinda."

" 'Kinda'?"

"I've had an on and off thing with a co-worker down there."

"Who?"

"Ryan Wolfe."

"That guy you called earlier." I stated.

She nodded.

"So is it on or off now?" Warrick boldly asked.

It was a great question, I really wanted to know, but didn't have the guts to ask, but just assume.

Laughing, Skye said, "Wow, ya'll are nosy!"

"Ya'll." I echoed, with a snicker.

"Shut up, I have a Southern accent, leave me alone!" Skye punched me lightly on the arm.

"Ow!" I said loudly, grabbing the spot. "I bruise like a peach!"

Worry reflected in Skye's eyes for a second til she realized I was just kidding. She gave me a smile and drank some of her coffee.

Warrick's cell rang and he answered. He talked to whoever it was, probably Grissom then hung up.

"Thanks for the results, I've got to go. Nice meeting you, Skye."

"My pleasure, Warrick." She replied.

"Thanks for saying anything nice to me, Warrick." I said, half jokingly.

Warrick turned to me. "I'm in a good mood, what do you want me to say?"

"Um, how bout 'Greg, you're the best thing to ever happen to the LVPD and I adore you and bow to your awesomeness since I'm lame.' ?" I laughed.

Warrick laughed. "Nice try, kid. I will say that I like your hair."

"I didn't do anything to it."

"Yet. Don't change it, I'm just getting used to the weirdness that's your hair."

"My hair's gorgeous." I boasted sarcastically.

With another laugh, Warrick started to leave. "Bye you two."

"Bye!" We both said after him.

Sipping our coffee simultaneously, we looked at each other.

"Have you met any other CSI's?" I asked.

She thought quickly. "You, Warrick, Grissom and Nicky. Only CSI's I met here."

"Maybe we'll see the others wandering around." I said.

Skye shrugged. "I don't know. We have half the pile to go, let's finish up so we can do nothing later."

I grinned at the beautiful brunette. "I like the way you think."

She smiled and finished her coffee. "I do too. Thanks for the coffee, Greg."

"No problem. I'd share it with you anytime."

Her blue eyes danced. "Thought you hated sharing."

"Hey, sharing is caring."

"Until someone else wants some."

I nodded. "Exactly."

Skye's airy laugh filled the lab. "Greg, you're the best."

Her words filled me with happiness, and I sat in my chair and rolled to the microscope. "Tell my sister that cuz she doesn't believe me."

"Sure." She said, doing the same, and turned on the radio before going to a microscope.

A country song came on and it was one I kinda knew, so I sang along with Skye, who belted out every word.

On top of her good looks, she was a good singer too. Not fantastic, but not nails-on-a-chalkboard bad.

We sang and worked, then once during the chorus of a song, I snuck a peek at her, and I saw her bright blue eyes looking at me too.

I felt my heart flutter and I turned back to the microscope as the song kept playing.

_And love is all that I need_

_And I found it there in your heart_

_It isn't too hard to see_

_We're in heaven_

[*]


	6. Oh no she didnt

Near the end of the shift, only an hour remaining, Skye and I were done with all the things.

I could only do DNA and some trace, but that left still a lot of other things, which Skye did alone. She was a quick worker, music helping her work faster and better.

We stopped talking while we worked, and just as I was finishing up, I heard a sigh.

"Finallllly! I'm done." Skye announced, pushing against the desk to roll the chair across the room to the computer and printer.

I turned as she rolled past me, her long black hair down and flowing down her shoulders like black oil, only without the mess. "Hey, careful you don't hit anything as you roll around."

She abruptly stopped right at the printer, grabbed the sheet of paper and rolled in my direction. I thought she was gonna roll past me again, but she grabbed my chair and my chair moved along with hers to the middle of the lab. "Don't worry, Sanders. I won't hit anything." She gave me a toothy grin and her blue eyes sparkled.

With her foot she pushed me back to the microscope and she rolled back to her desk, grabbing a file and putting the paper in it.

"You're seriously done?" I asked.

She nodded, and put the file on a pile of other files. I could see 10 of them, plus evidence packets neatly next to them.

"Wow. You're fast." I said, going back to the microscope, hoping to finish up fast.

"Thanks. Patience and taking things slow are not strong suits of mine."

_Since you don't like to take things slow, how bout we skip the getting-to-know-each-other thing and just go out? _I thought.

Skye laughed suddenly and I immediately blushed. "Did I say that out loud?!"

She looked at me, and shook her head. "No, it was something funny I remembered. Sorry." She apologized and then saw my heated cheeks. "What were you thinking? Your face is red, must've been something funny. Or embarrassing. Or…"

"Nothing, it was nothing." I returned my heated face to the eye lens of the compound light microscope I was using.

"Sure it was nothing." She started and I felt her eyes on me, then nothing.

It got quiet, minus the radio playing.

"Skye?" I looked at her.

"Yeah, Ryan? Uh, Greg, I meant. Greg." She said, looking at me calling me Ryan and she blushed, stammering.

I smiled a little. "That's my name."

"Sorry. You just look like Ryan, a bit. And sound like him too." The pretty young labrat admitted.

"So he's devastatingly good-looking and has a dreamy voice if we sound and look alike." I said slyly.

Skye laughed. "Sure, Greg. Let's say that. Not far off from that, though."

I laughed too and finished up with the DNA. "All right then. Can you just go over and get the DNA results?"

Getting up from the chair, she went to the printer and read the results, then gave them to me. "Unknown male."

"Uh." I read it.

"What do you do now?"

"Not my problem now. It's the CSI's."

Skye took the paper and waved it infront of my face. "Well, aren't you a CSI now, Mr. Sanders?"

"CSI wannabe." A familiar Texan accent said from the door.

We looked up to see Nick Stokes stand there with my sister.

"Nicky!" Skye grinned.

"Hey Skye. How was it? Did you behave?"

"She behaved quite well. She was rowdy at times but I settled her down." I smirked.

Nick gave a look, identical to the ones I give him when he looks at Erica like the Casanova he is.

Skye saw and gave me a look, confused and questioning. I simply smiled nicely at her, and she returned it, turning to Nick.

"Did Greg behave, Skye?" Nick asked.

She looked at me then back to Nick. "We were just fine, Nicky. Don't worry. See look, I didn't hurt myself, Greg, or anyone else. The lab's still intact."

The Texan looked at his younger cousin. "Ok."

"Hey bro. Hi Skye!" Erica said cheerfully.

"Hey Erica." The two of us said together.

Erica laughed as Nick sort of scowled.

"So Skye, where's those fibers I gave you?" Nick said.

Skye went to the pile and dug through the files til she found the one she was looking for. "It's a polyester fiber. The other one was cotton. A polyester/cotton blend, that'd be almost any shirt, bedspread, etc. Good luck." She said, handing it to him.

"I thought you were the best in the lab. You just gave me…almost nothing to work off of."

"White fibers, look for a white shirt, bed sheet, curtain. Sorry. All I could get. Why don't you give me more to work on next time?" Skye said with a grin.

He gave her a look.

"Don't you give me that look, Nick." She warned easily. Nick handed the file back to her and gave her a evidence packet. "Try this. Scrap of cloth. It's stiff--"

"Like it was ironed and sprayed with something?" Skye took it.

Nick nodded.

"Ok, thanks." Skye put it on the table and took off her lab coat.

"Hey, what'cha doin'?" Nick questioned.

Skye pointed to the clock on the wall. "Shift's over. I ain't doing anything else. I'm outta here. Tired, in need of food, and sleep."

I saw how tired she looked, she was getting circles under her tired eyes.

"No way, it'll be quick."

"It'll take awhile, you know that." Skye said. "Come on, Nicky."

"No." He said stubbornly.

I smiled when I saw the Nick was blocking the door and when Skye moved to step around him, Nick stepped too and blocked the way out.

I laughed when Skye stomped her converse clad foot and whined, "Niiiicccck!"

Erica laughed and said, "Come on, Nick."

"No way, I need to know." he insisted.

"I'll tell you tomorrow!" Skye tried pushing him out of the way, but Nick planted his feet firmly on the ground and didn't budge.

After a 5 second stare-down with her older cousin, Skye backed down. "Fine. Ok? Fine, Nick. Come on and get me some gloves." She sighed, turning her back on him and took a few steps towards the table. Nick went to fetch the gloves and as soon as he did, Skye turned and made a run for the door.

I laughed with Erica as Nick turned and saw through the glass wall that Skye was out and gone.

"Oh no she didn't." Nick huffed but his brown eyes showed a hint of laughter.

"Oh yeah she did." Erica smiled. "Greggo's girlfriend just ran off. Sorry Nick."

Nick was startled to hear that and looked at me. "What?! Girlfriend?"

"No." I said. "She had a boyfriend and it's not me, geez." I said, my good mood gone.

"Ok, I was bout to go off. It's only been one day. Not even a day, _hours_!"

"Did you check out her DNA?" Erica questioned teasingly.

I blushed. "No."

"Ask her out?"

"No."

"Get her number?"

"No." I huffed, getting rather irritated by Erica's questions.

"Good, cuz I don't want her to be hurt." Nick said.

"Skye would be hurt less with a guy like me than with a Casanova womanizer like you." I stated, boldly.

Erica and Nick were both surprised, I was surprised myself.

After an awkward silence and a staring contest between me and the strong Texan who could do serious damage if he wanted to, Erica continued.

"So do you like her?"

Taking off my lab coat and putting it on the chair, I left. "I'll see you at home, Erica."

Hurrying out of the lab, I laughed to myself; almost seeing her reaction in my head.

Happy because she's alone to make out with Nick, then realizing that I was her only ride home.

I paused for a second, just at a corner of the lab.

"Greg, wait! You're my only ride!" Erica's voice carried down the lab.

I burst into laughter and then hurried away.

[*]

"Really, I oughta get a map for this place." I heard a frustrated Southern accented female voice echoing down the hallway.

The lights flickered off down the hallway, they always did, but Skye sure didn't know that.

I heard a thud and a "Owww! My face!"

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Who's there? Greg?" The girl asked, then I heard footsteps, another thud, a groan and a irritated voice. "I hate this place."

"Yeah, it's Greg. Just chill, the lights always do that." I said in her direction.

She emerged from the darkness, looking sort of hilarious. Her eyes were wide, and she looked around, taking in her surroundings and she was biting her lip. She saw me and smiled. "I don't know where I am."

"Locker rooms." I said, opening mine.

"Should've figured that one out faster." She said, looking at the lockers.

I grabbed my jacket. "Yeah, but I don't blame you. You're new here. The lights do that often, don't worry bout it. You ok? Sounded like you ran into something."

"Ran into a open locker door, then into the bench. So my shins hurt and my nose hurts." Skye said. "But I can see now, I'm good. Can you show me how to get outta here?"

"Sure, I'm leaving too." I said.

Leading the way out of the locker room, we passed Grissom who stopped.

"Hello, Miss Stokes. Greg."

"Skye, please."

"I didn't do anything, I swear!"

Grissom looked alarmed and looked at me.

"Greg didn't do anything bad, Grissom. He showed me around and helped me do some work in the lab. Really backed up for awhile, huh?"

The supervisor nodded. "Yeah, did you finish it all?"

"Greg helped me out, we both finished it all."

"I didn't expect it to be done today, it would've been fine if it was finished tomorrow. Wow, Skye." Grissom was impressed.

"Like I said, Greg helped too."

I grinned. "She did 3/4ths of the work, I didn't do as much compared to her."

He nodded. "Well, how was your first day?"

"It went fine, better than I expected." Skye said.

"Glad you enjoyed it. I got all your paperwork in and filed, you'll officially be part of the crime lab tomorrow. You'll get your id transferred from the Miami-Dade crime lab and with a few adjustments, it'll be your id for here."

"Thank you." Skye smiled and looked at me. "Officially working tomorrow. Awesome."

I smiled back. "Welcome to the LVPD."

Her eyes lit and Grissom smiled. "Glad you're with us, Skye. Go home and sleep off that jet lag in your eyes, and come back tomorrow."

"Thank you, Grissom. Bye!" She said as we left again.

Grissom went into his office and we walked away.

"Tomorrow's your official first day here." I said.

"Yeah. I hope it'll be just as good as today was."

"But I have to go into the field tomorrow. So you won't have me with you."

She pouted playfully. "Aw, you're leaving me for a dead body, Greg?"

I chuckled. "Can you make it sound any more weird?"

"Yeah, I can actually. 'You're not going to spend time with me, so you go hang with a _dead body_?' "

Laughing, I said, "Yeah, I am. Don't worry, I'll pop in on occasion and see how you're doing."

Her eyes danced. "Ok. Oh and Greg?"

"Yeah?"

"_Wanna go out?"_

"_Me? Like a date? Sure, of course I'd like to. Even though I just met you, you know."_

"_Yeah, but I felt a connection with you that I cant deny."_

"_Same here. So, where you wanna go?"_

"Earth to Greg!" Skye waved her hand infront of my face.

I snapped out of my fantasy conversation with fantasy Skye and looked at the pretty labrat.

Her eyes were laughing at me, she had a smile on her face and looked just amused.

"Sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

"Thanks for sharing, Captain Obvious." She said playfully, and grabbed my arm; stopping us in the middle of the hallway. "So, I was asking, is making out in labs on a table allowed here?"

My heart pounded and I could almost see my fantasy coming real. "If you want it to." I grinned.

Skye laughed and shook her head. "No seriously, Greg. Is that allowed?"

"No, it's not."

"Oh. Well, then. Nick and Erica better quit it if that's not allowed." Skye said, looking past me.

I turned to see us standing outside of Erica's lab where my little sister was sitting on a table, and was trading spit with Skye's cousin.

"Oh, this is disgusting." I made a face and rolled my eyes.

Skye burst out laughing. She stuck her face in the lab and I wondered what she was gonna do.

"EWWWWWWWW! GET A ROOM THAT'S NOT MADE OF GLASS!" Skye yelled and as they broke apart, Nick saw her and started to let go of Erica to grab Skye by the throat or something.

Skye grabbed my hand and pulled me away. Laughing, we ran down the hall into an elevator and I pressed the button to the lobby. The doors closed and panting from the rib-cracking laughter, I looked at Skye.

"Wow, that was funny. Nick looked like he wanted to kill you."

She just grinned, and when the doors opened we got out. "He always looks like that."

"He gives me that look too. I wouldn't worry."

"Yeah." We left the building and it was dark, but the dawn was coming just over the horizon.

"So you stayin with Nick or do you already have your own place?"

"I'm gonna start looking for a new place soon." Skye said, as she walked with me to the parking lot.

"Cool. So…how are you going to get to Nick's? Do you have the car keys or something?"

Like Erica, she realized her only ride home was by their family.

"I'm such an idiot. I didn't grab the car keys when he was sucking face with your sister." Skye sighed, but reached in her pocket and took out a key. "Nick's house key. He gave me the spare so I can get in. But my stuff is in his car, and I want to get my bag." Skye said, and headed to Nick's car.

Crossing her fingers, she pulled on the door; but Nick had locked it.

"Well, this sucks. Stuck in Vegas without money, a ride, any sense of direction, and I'm jet lagged and hungry." Skye groaned, resting her head on the window. "Oh lovely SUV, please let the back be unlocked." She said to herself as she went around and tried the back without success.

"I give up, gonna hang and wait for Nicky."

"You don't have to." I said. "You can come with me, I'll drop you off."

"Really? I shouldn't, Erica is kinda relying on you for a ride."

"She'd rather go with Nick, believe me." I smiled. "Come on. I wont bite or anything."

Skye smiled but hesitated. "I don't know…"

"Please, I'd rather not hang and wait for Erica to come and start babbling about Nick like a love struck puppy."

"Ok." Skye relented and walked with me to my car.

[*]


	7. Sweet as honey

_Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews and stuff. Hope you're enjoying it so far. Ok, um i kinda got in trouble so i wouldnt expect much from me for awhile. Sorry guys! But that's why i posted ch6 and 7 for ya'll in one day. Enjoy and review please! :D_

Getting in the passenger seat, she buckled the seat belt as I got in and started the car.

"Hopefully Nick has food. Bet that guy has leftover steak in there."

I laughed, thinking of the Texan's big appetite. "That's a safe bet."

"Yeah." Skye smiled and looked around as I drove away from the building, looking everywhere, memorizing landmarks. "Hopefully he'll get there after I do so I can get a head start on eating whatever food he has."

"You don't have to, why don't we just go buy dinner?" I suggested.

She looked at me, "I don't have any money on me."

"I'll buy something for you."

Skye looked grateful but refused to take me up on my offer. "No, I can't. I like to buy my own food and not have someone else pay."

"Well, what do you do on dates? The guy pays."

"Is this a date, then?" She asked simply.

I didn't know what to say, I would've liked it to be considered as a date, but she might not think of it that way. I've only known her for just hours and it's going too fast.

"No, I'm just buying you dinner. Whether you like it or not." I said with a smile. "Think of it as a 'Welcome to Las Vegas and to the LVPD' dinner/breakfast."

Skye smiled and nodded. "All right. But nothing expensive. I'm perfectly fine with McDonald's."

"Not too expensive, but no fast food either. First breakfast in Vegas, and I don't want you eating some thousand calorie ham and cheese biscuit sandwich."

Laughing, Skye said, "Ok, Greg."

"There's this really good diner that the team goes to. It's a little off the Strip, and the food isn't 5 star, but it's pretty good." I said, looking at her.

"Sounds great." Skye smiled.

I drove there and took the long way, on the traffic induced Strip, just to make Skye happy. I showed her the landmarks and her eyes sparkled as much as the Strip lights did.

We got to the diner and found a booth. Sitting down, I handed her a menu. "Order whatever you like."

"I don't know what I want. Any suggestions?"

"Um, let's both try something I've never had. How bout that Hawaiian breakfast, and the Southwest breakfast." I said, scanning the menu.

"Ok. Who gets what?"

"You pick."

"I wanna try the Southwest one." Skye said. "Has peppers, I can handle that well, not sure if a California boy can handle the hotness."

"Is that a challenge?" I asked with a grin.

Her eyes danced daringly. "Maybe."

The waitress came over. "Hey guy, what would you like to order?"

"I would like to have the Southwest breakfast. And Miss Daredevil here would like the Hawaiian Brekkie." I said, eyes locked with Skye's blue eyes.

She took our orders and asked Skye what drink she wanted, took her order then mine and left.

"Well," Skye grinned. "I know I've only known you for half a day, but I already don't want to humiliate you by making you eat those peppers."

"I can handle them just as fine."

Skye looked at the menu. "You might wanna order something else too. Like a garnish of some sort."

"Why?"

"To make your foot taste better before you put it in your mouth." She laughed.

I laughed, but shook my head. "No way."

"Fine then, it's your humiliation." Skye flashed me a winning grin that made butterflies in my stomach crash into each other.

Her cell rang and she answered it. "Hello?"

_I hope it's not that Ryan guy. We're having fun, and I don't want another guy to interrupt. Even if he's almost clear across the country._

And the guy on the other end was loud enough for me to hear, even without being on speaker. "SKYE ADRIANNA STOKES!!!"

"Nick--"

"WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"I'm with Greg. Relax, Nicky! Honestly, you need to quiet down. We're gonna eat something then Greg will drop me off at home, ok? So you and Erica have enough time to do whatever ya'll like. Just as long as I don't find out about it. I'll see you later, Nick. Don't worry bout me, I'm fine. Bye." She said and hung up. "That guy has to learn to chill sometimes."

"Well, his little cousin left him and is out and about in Las Vegas the first day getting here. I would worry too."

"Oh well. Erica's with him, I heard her in the background." Skye stated. "Nick has company and I got away from him. We're both happy."

The waitress brought us our food. "Here you go. Southwest for you, and Hawaiian for 'Miss Daredevil.' " The mid-age waitress chuckled, placing our food infront of us.

"Thank you." We thanked her and Skye stabbed a piece of ham and pineapple with her fork and tasted it cautiously.

"Ok, this is really good."

"Like these potatoes." I said, stuffing a forkful of chopped fried potatoes with red and green peppers in my mouth.

Skye smiled and using her fork, grabbed some off my plate and put it in her mouth.

"Careful, the peppers are spicy." I warned with a laugh.

After swallowing, Skye grabbed the salt shaker and sprinkled my potatoes with it.

I gave her a 'what are you doing to my food' look.

"Needed more salt. And they were not spicy, they were sweet peppers!"

"I know. And since you took my food, I want some of yours." I took some ham and pineapple, and ate it as Skye started to dump ketchup on her omelet.

"Ketchup on an omelet?" I made a disgusted face.

She nodded. "I don't like eggs by themselves."

"It has pineapples, cheese, other good stuff in it. I don't think it'll go well with ketchup." I said.

Shrugging, she took a ketchup-covered bite of her omelet. "It's good."

I cut into my own omelet and ate it. "Mine's better." As soon as I said it, a heat wave hit my tongue, and I started to cough.

Skye looked alarmed at first til she saw the remains of a jalapeño on my fork. Then she started to laugh. " 'I can handle them', yeah right!" She joked.

"My mouth is on fire, why don't you do something to help me out?!"

"Like how, want me to trade spit with you to cool it down?" She said, while calmly pulling my plate to her.

"It's not a bad idea." I said, fanning my mouth.

She picked the peppers out of the potatoes, dumped ketchup on it and pushed the plate back to me. "Eat the potatoes."

I did, and the fire left my mouth. "Thank god, that was hot."

She pointed at the pepper. "Jalapeño has no seed. You must've eaten them. The seeds are the hottest, you know."

I nodded.

"Potatoes, rice, and bread will cool it down."

"What about the ketchup?"

Skye laughed. "Hey, it worked in Scooby-Doo the movie."

I laughed. "Ok. Well, thanks for saving my mouth."

"No problem. You just gotta let me have a bite of your food now."

I pushed my plate to her and she took a piece of that fiery omelet and popped it in her mouth.

She swallowed and looked at me with a smirk.

"Nothing?" I ventured.

"Nothing." She nodded.

"Fail." I smiled a little and Skye laughed.

"It was. But it's ok."

"Can I have your omelet?" I asked.

She nodded and pushed her plate in the middle of the table, next to my plate. "Only if I can have yours."

I agreed and we talked, eating from both plates. Skye ate my omelet and her pineapple ham, while I ate her omelet and my own sweet pepper potatoes.

We were having just a fun time talking, we never had an awkward silence, with the both of us talking and keeping the conversation light and fun.

Skye was telling me about the time she got the chance to take a joyride around a racetrack in Miami in a Ferrari with one of her co-workers when a guy came up to us.

"Hey guys. Greg, looks like you have Lady Luck on your side."

I looked to see Warrick Brown and some girl stand with him at the table.

Skye grinned. "Hi Warrick."

"Hi Skye. Nice to see you…out on a date with Sanders…" He said, a bit like a question.

"He bought me dinner since I left my bag and money with Nick."

Skye neither denied nor confirmed the whole date thing, which still left me confused and hopeful.

Warrick smiled. "Aw, Greg, you're so sweet."

"Sweet as honey." I grinned, winking at Warrick's date who just smiled.

"I don't like honey." Warrick laughed.

Skye laughed. "Well, it was nice seein you."

"Wow, someone wants me to leave so she can have Sanders to herself." Warrick commented with a smirk. "Fine, I got the hint. See you two at work."

"Bye." We said together.

"Do other CSIs come in here?" Skye asked, finishing up her pineapple and ham.

"Yeah, for our breaks."

"That's cool." She said, nodding and took a sip of her soda.

I finished up my food and sat back. "Ok. I am totally full. I don't think I can drive."

"Then let me drive."

"Never mind, I feel better."

Skye laughed and pretended to look offended. "Come on, don't you trust me? I trusted you. You could've kidnapped me or something."

"But I didn't."

"Exactly. I trusted you. You can trust me to drive." Skye insisted.

I felt my car keys in my pocket and fingered them. "I don't know…"

"Please?" Skye asked and I looked at her and regretted it.

She was working her big blue eyes against me, and her lower lip stuck out in a puppy dog pout.

I handed her the keys. "Fine."

Skye grabbed them and grinned. "Yay!"

I paid for our food, left a tip; and followed Skye out of the diner.

We passed Warrick and his date, but Skye didn't notice.

"She got our keys?" Warrick asked.

I nodded, somewhat scared.

"Good luck." He laughed.

I made a face and left. Skye was in the driver's seat and I got in.

Starting the car, she looked at me. "You're gonna have to give me directions."

"Ok."

She pulled out and with my directions, hit the freeway.

I was gripping to the arm rest, slightly panicking. She was going over the speed limit and Vegas traffic was probably a whole different thing from traffic in middle-of-nowhere Texas.

5 minutes onto the interstate, Skye let her right hand fall off the steering wheel to grab my arm. "Greg, you need to relax. I can drive."

"You're going over the speed limit!"

She smiled. "I'm going 5 over the limit. Other people are going 15. Relax. If it makes you feel better, I'll go the exact speed limit." She said in a calm voice.

I felt stupid for over reacting. Skye was doing just fine, and I just couldn't think with her hand on mine. I relaxed and Skye went down to the speed limit.

Both hands on the wheel, she looked at me for a second. "There you go."

Skye turned on the radio and drove as I gave her directions. She was a good driver, and I relaxed completely.

Soon we were off the interstate and on a smaller road when Skye said, "You're lucky this car is almost out of gas, or else I seriously would've hit the gas."

"Man, I need to refuel. Erica using my car and uses all my gas." I whined.

Skye laughed. "My car's getting fixed in Miami."

"What happened to it?"

"My co-worker, Eric; he drove it and some drunk driver crashed into him."

"Oh, wow. How bad was it?"

"Not too bad. The guy t-boned him, but it wasn't too much damage. Eric was ok, that was the best part. The drunk paid for the damage too. The shop called and said it'd be here next week."

"That's great." I smiled.

Her eyes danced. "I know. I can't wait. Gotta find a place too. I don't wanna stay with Nicky forever."

"I wouldn't either." I joked.

Skye laughed and she turned into a smaller road, with townhouses on it. "Nick should be home now."

I shrugged. "I don't know. I wonder where my sister is."

Skye shrugged and slowed infront of a townhouse. "Nick's car is there."

She parked and got out. I did too, and Skye met me infront of the car.

"Thanks for everything, Greg." She smiled at me, grateful. "It was the best first day in Vegas ever, really."

"You're welcome, Skye." I said, unsure of whether to shake her hand, hug her or just continue standing there awkwardly.

Skye solved it for me, she hugged me.

I hugged her back, and I caught a whiff of her scent: Vanilla and lavender.

She smelled so good and I saw that she fit perfectly in my arms.

Skye let go and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ok." I said, and got in my car as Skye walked to the townhouse and opened the door with her key. She went in and I started the car.

"Greg! Wait!" 2 voices yelled.

I looked to the townhouse and saw Skye standing there, holding a hand up.

Rolling down the windows, I yelled "What?"

"Hold on a sec, don't leave." She said back.

Waiting for 3 minutes, I saw Erica come out. She waved bye to Nick and Skye.

"Bye Erica, see you at work." The Stokes yelled and went inside.

Erica got in. "Hi Greg!" She said cheerfully.

"What were you doing at Nick's place?" I asked, suspicious.

"What was Skye doing with you? Did you go on a date? Did she kiss you?"

Erica always knew how to pester me. With annoying questions.

"Shut up, Erica." I said, driving away.

"Was it good?"

I had to remind myself to call my mom and apologize for killing her only daughter later.

[*]


	8. If we were a movie

_Oh hai guys! Sorry i havent updated in forever, i've been busy getting out of grounding. Yeah, i love school *sarcasm*. Anyways, here's chapter 8! Yay! :) Ryan Wolfe (CSI:Miami) is gonna be the next few chapters, just letting ya'll know. oh, a quick reminder, reviews are love :)_

(a week later)

"Good morning ya'll! Er, night, I mean. Isn't it a fantastic day?!" Nick Stokes' voice boomed out from the door.

"Go away!" Erica threw a banana at her boyfriend with a laugh.

It was disgusting how her face lit up when Nick entered the break room. I was watching the news on the tv with a sort of zombie look on my face.

I had taken Erica home, and suffered her interrogations about my dinner/breakfast and promptly fell into a coma when I flopped onto my bed. I didn't realize how tired I was until I got home.

And it didn't help that I kept waking up because Erica was talking to Nick over the phone the whole week, all gross love crap.

Of course I wouldn't think that if I had someone to say sappy lovey stuff to.

"Hey guys." Skye walked in, looking very much like I did, only more pretty.

Skye wore jeans and a plain white v-neck t-shirt with her black converse that have seen better days. Her dark hair was loose, she looked a littler paler than yesterday. Skye also looked irritated, and very tired. The dark circles under her devastatingly blue eyes showed it.

"You look tired." Erica commented cheerfully.

"I am." Skye said calmly, but her eyes glared at her older cousin annoyed.

Nick went to the coffee pot and filled up a cup. "Will me making coffee for you earn me brownie points?" He asked.

"Maybe." Skye said.

"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Erica." Nick said with a chuckle.

"I knew that. Duh, Nick." Skye brushed it off but when Nick turned away, Skye made a face at his back. Erica didn't see it since she was too busy staring at Nick's butt.

Skye huffed over to the sofa and sat next to me. "First week in Vegas and I couldn't sleep." She sighed, and looked at me. "You look tired too."

"Nick and Erica were yapping it up on the phone." I said and she nodded.

"Does it happen often? If it does, I'll find myself a hotel to move into."

I shook my head. "Not often. They just started to date, like, almost 2 weeks ago."

"So they're in the whole new couple/puppy love phase."

"Unfortunately." I said under my breath as I looked back casually to see Nick and Erica making out near the coffeepot. I growled a little, and Skye laughed lightly next to me.

I turned back to her and she made a face then looked back. "Ew gross. They're like, attacking each other's tongues. Purty nasty."

"And this is just the beginning for you. I've suffered almost 2 weeks already."

"Trust me, Greg. I'm already suffering. I couldn't sleep with them talking all the time while I was trying to sleep!" Skye got louder, talking to Erica and Nick.

They pulled away and looked over at us.

"Oh sorry. Was I talking too loud?" Skye said innocently in a normal level.

"Skye Adri--" Nick started when Grissom walked in.

"Nick, stop wasting time, we've got a busy day." Grissom said, then handed Nick and I cases, then sent Skye and Erica off to the lab.

I left with Sara Sidle to a mansion where a double murder occurred.

Sara was pretty also, I had been crushing on her since I met her.

When Skye came just a week ago, I completely had forgotten about Sara.

Now that Skye showed that she was just trying to settle in Vegas and wasn't really sure about where she stood with Ryan--who hasn't been mentioned since her first day, to my happiness-- to bother dating me. Skye still liked to tease me and flirt, but I figured she took it all as good fun.

After a day of thinking, yesterday I decided to try to get along with Sara again.

"So Sara, what are you doing after shift?" I asked, taking pictures of the crime scene.

"Greg, careful! You almost stepped on that drop of blood." She said, a little bit irritated.

I placed a yellow marker next to it, and took a picture then moved away. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Sara mumbled, probably reminding herself to not snap since I was a newbie in the field.

"So I was thinking maybe we could go grab some dinner at the diner after shift." I tried.

Sara and I kept working the scene and she said, "Well, Greg…Aren't you and Nick's cousin dating? I've seen you two together a lot and figured you guys were dating."

"No." I said, feeling slightly pleased that Sara noticed and even speculated that Skye and I were dating. "We're just friends. I'm helping her kinda find her way in the building and showing her the ropes."

"You're so nice, Greg." Sara said, with a small smile.

"Yeah I know." I smiled cause I knew she was trying to distract me so she didn't have to answer my question. "So I'm being nice and inviting you to dinner with me."

Sara took a minute or two, but finally answered "Ok."

_Yes! _I celebrated inwardly, but outwardly I was cool and casual. "Awesome. Why don't we meet there after I change? Cuz this smell," I looked to the dead body in the washer machine, that sent off an absolutely disgusting smell, "is going to get stuck onto us. And I personally don't like smelling like dead in public."

Sara laughed, "Ok."

My mood lifted as we continued to work the crime scene and I forgot about the pretty Southern girl in the lab.

[*]

"Ew what is that sound? It's melting my ears!" I announced, walking into Skye's lab.

She laughed, not facing me, but facing her computer where she was looking for a fingerprint match. "It's music, Greg."

"Ewww. Classical slow boring Mozart junk." I made a face as the sound of a orchestra filled the room, playing something that was actually kind of pretty-sounding.

"It's not Mozart, it's Gustav Holst." She said, matter-of-factly.

"What's the difference? They're both old dead guys, as far as I know."

Skye laughed and rolled herself to the printer where it was wheezing out a paper. "That part is true. Mozart was way before Holst's time. Mozart was 1700's, whereas Holst was around the 1920's."

"Well…They're both old and boring."

"Come on, Greg. I always took you as a 'try anything at least once' kind of guy. Classical isn't bad, and this is Holst's best composition."

I looked at Skye and shrugged. "It's not that bad, I guess. What's it called?"

"Jupiter. It's one of seven pieces in the Planets suite."

"Shouldn't there be nine pieces then? For the 9 planets?" I asked.

Skye shook her head, and went to the computer. "No. He didn't write one for Earth, so there's Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune."

I played with a bouncy ball I had found on the desk drawer. "There's still one missing. Pluto."

"That is technically true, but Greg, when was Pluto discovered?" A voice appeared from the door.

I looked to see Grissom at the door. "Umm…1930 I think."

"Correct." He said. "Gustav Holst died 4 years before it was discovered."

"He died after Pluto was discovered. He just didn't want to write a theme for Pluto." Skye corrected Grissom, who looked surprised, then impressed.

"You're right."

"Yeah, I know." She smiled and handed him a couple papers. "And here's the DNA you wanted. Your suspect wasn't at the scene, sorry."

"Ok. I actually didn't expect classical music coming from you, Stokes."

Skye shrugged. "No one does. I studied classical music in college, in case I ever decided to leave this career to teach music."

Grissom looked at me. "Now Greg, she can be a rock star." he said, referring to the time I was rocking out to music in the lab a few years back and when I said I could've been a rock star.

"How was your official first week, Skye?" Grissom asked Skye.

"Fantastic now that shift's over." Skye laughed, looking at the clock. "It's been a busy week."

"No kidding." I said.

"Yes. Well have a good day." Grissom said, and left.

Skye shut off everything and walked with me to the locker room. "So glad the shift's over."

"Seriously." I agreed, grabbing my jacket and closing my locker door.

Skye opened hers up and took out her bag then closed her own locker. "How was the field?"

"It was…smelly. Double murders. A chick was in the hallway, just…there. I think she may have had a fatal blow to the back of the head, we don't really know all too much yet. We were trying to get a male out of the washer machine."

"The washer machine?!" Skye repeated, a little dumbfounded.

"Yeah. It smelled absolutely repulsive. I think the smell's clinging to my hair or something."

Skye and I walked to the elevator and she stood in the corner, away from me. "So that's that gross smell? I thought it was you."

"Is it that bad?"

"It smelled like a zombie walked into my lab." She laughed, pinching her nose.

The doors opened and we walked outside into the fresh air. Or as fresh as city air could get.

"Well, thanks Skye for telling that I smell like a zombie."

"I'm lying. I can barely smell anything." Skye assured me with a smile.

_God, she looks amazing in the sunlight. _I smiled at her, completely forgetting about my date with Sara as I looked into her deep blue eyes.

"So, I'm heading into the city, gonna have dinner somewhere. Wanna come? Nick and Erica are headed into the city too I think." Skye said as we walked to the parking lot.

"Oh I can't. I have a date with Sara."

"Sara..Sidle?"

"Yeah."

Skye beamed. "I'm getting better with names. And that's cool."

No hint of jealousy, nothing. I knew I shouldn't feel like it, but I was kinda disappointed that Skye wasn't jealous or upset or anything. I wanted her to be jealous.

I knew I couldn't have both Sara and Skye, I would be lucky to have either, really.

"Yeah. I need to shower before I meet up with her though. I apparently smell like a zombie." I teased Skye.

She laughed, her laugh light. "Just kidding, Greggo."

"Whatever you say, Skye."

A car beeped nearby and we jumped, looking at the car. A sleek red GT Ford Mustang convertible flashed its lights and we paused.

A male jumped out of the car and walked towards us slowly.

Skye didn't move, she was frozen, looking at the guy.

I slowly reached for my gun and the guy stopped abruptly. "Hey, don't take out the gun! I'm unarmed, not gonna hurt anyone."

I didn't believe him, you couldn't trust anyone coming up in a random car and walking very creepily towards us. I looked at Skye, seeing her reaction and her face lit up.

"Ryan?" She called out towards the stranger, unsure and hopeful.

"Hey beautiful! Ya miss me?" He said, walking to us again, his arms opening wide with each step, clearly expecting a hug when he got to us.

Skye squealed a little, dropped her bag and ran to the guy, almost tackling him to the ground. He wrapped his arms around her and swung her around. "Hi Skye."

"Ryan, I can't believe you're here!" Skye exclaimed, when Ryan set her down on the ground.

I picked up her bag and walked over, feeling a little dejected. She was so happy to see Ryan, it was obvious. I silently thanked God that I was already going to dinner with Sara or else this scene would make me fall into a depression.

"It's my off weekend. I called in sick yesterday since I was driving all the way here. Your 'stang is fantastic."

"You look it from Miami all the way here?" Skye looked at her car.

"Yeah, took a day and a half." Ryan laughed.

A small squeal came from Skye. "My car! Yes! Now I don't have to wait for Nick to stop making out with Erica anymore."

"Who's Erica?"

"My little sister." I said, reaching them.

The guy looked at me, a smile still on his face from seeing Skye.

I took a look at what I considered to be my competition.

He was good-looking, with brown hair that brushed his eyebrows, a little swept to the side; he was taller and was more muscular than I was. For a second, I saw that he looked a little bit like me until I noticed the obvious differences like our height, and hair.

His arm was around Skye's shoulders, and he shifted a little uncomfortably in the heat, wearing jeans and a black t-shirt with a gray blazer over it. I thought people from Miami wore shorts, loose shirts, and flip flops but Ryan looked like he was either not expecting it to be this hot in Vegas, wanted to look nice for Skye, or trying to blend in with the pavement.

Either way, he looked more professional than I was, since I was wearing jeans with a hole in the knee, a gray Rolling Stones t-shirt, and converse that had seen better days like Skye's. On top of that, my hair was insane and doing weird things, sticking up randomly; and I smelled like a zombie.

_If we were a movie, Ryan would be the hero and the guy every girl wants, and I'd be the weirdo that every chick stays away from. Unless it's one of those superhero movies where the nerd is the hero and saves the damsel in distress. In that case, it'd work out great for me. But too bad this isn't a movie. It probably would've been a box office blow. _I thought.

"Ryan, this is Greg Sanders. He's my first friend here in Vegas. Besides the pizza guy and Nick. Greg, this is Ryan Wolfe. I told you about him already."

"What'd you say bout me?" Ryan asked, with a smile.

"Nothing." Skye grinned.

"You told him something, and I wanna know what things you told him." Ryan nudged Skye playfully.

She laughed, and shook her head. "Never, Wolfe."

It was disgusting, how flirtatious they were, how much they liked each other. It was like being with Nick and Erica, only less gross because I had only seen them together once as opposed to Nick and Erica.

"Here's your bag, Skye. You dropped it." I handed her the bag and she took it gratefully.

"Thanks Greggo." She said.

"I'll catch ya around later." I said, and started to walk away.

"Nice meeting you, Greg." Ryan called out politely.

"Bye Greg!" said Skye, running to me quickly and hugging me.

I smiled and let her go. "Bye."

She didn't say bye back, and instead I heard her talking to Ryan and the sound of her car starting. As I got into my car, I watched Skye and Ryan leaving the building.

Slightly disappointed, I left and cheered myself up with the thought that I was going to go on a date with Sara.

_I could forget about Skye. She can be just my friend. Nothing more._ I told myself, but I knew that I was an idiot for thinking I could forget about Skye.

It had only been a week, but I was already falling for her.


	9. Third wheel

_Ha, im on a roll :) Chapter 9 yay! I dont have much to say, so...read and review please :) _

"Do you want to order _now_?" The elderly waitress asked me for the third time.

I shook my head. "No. Still waiting for my date."

"How long has it been?"

"Almost an hour." I said, with a sigh to the waitress I had gotten to know over the last hour.

She looked at me, a almost motherly look on her face. "Baby, when a girl doesn't show up after an hour, she's just not gonna show up at all. Sorry."

My heart sank and I sighed, "Of course."

"So sorry, hon. Still want something to eat? Coffee and a slice of apple pie on me?" She offered.

Shaking my head again, I said, "No thanks. I think I'll crawl home and lick off my wounds. Thanks Beatrice." I stood and left the diner.

I took one last look through the parking lot then headed to my car. I looked at myself in the window's reflection.

A well-dressed immature kid looked back at me.

I made a face at my reflection then got in the car, feeling dejected for the second time today.

"Course Sara didn't show, it's actually not a big surprise. Knew it was too good to be true. Dressed with nowhere to go now." I said to myself, taking out my cell phone and scrolling through the contacts.

I called Erica, but she didn't pick up; then without thinking, I dialed Skye's number.

"Hello?"

"Oh shoot!" I yelled, realizing I had called her.

"Greg?"

I blushed, "Yeah, sorry. I, um…Didn't mean to call you."

"Did you butt-dial me?" She asked, with a slight laugh.

"No. I just called, but I didn't really realize that I called _you_. God, I feel like an idiot. Nice talkin to ya, I think I'll just crawl under the covers and die now."

Skye laughed. "It's not a problem. What's up?"

"I…Sara stood me up." I blurted out, feeling stupider and more pathetic.

"She did? Oh, I'm sorry, Greggo." Skye said, sounding genuinely sympathetic.

"I was stupid to think she'd want to go out with me."

"I'm not gonna be Doctor Phil here, ok? I'm not gonna solve your relationship problems, cuz I have a feeling that you're gonna start to ramble on about that, and I don't have enough minutes on my cell plan for that. But I do want you to come over."

"Over where?"

"The mall. It's just off The Strip. You know where it is, right? Cuz I suck at giving directions in Vegas."

"_You suck at giving directions _anywhere_, Skye." _A guy's voice laughed in the background. Ryan.

Skye laughed and denied it, as I said, "I know where it is, but I don't think I should go."

"Why not?"

Looking at myself in the mirror, I said, "I don't want to be a third wheel."

"You won't. Greggo, you should come. Neither Ryan or I know how to get around here, it'd be good to have a person who knows Vegas."

"No, you two have fun. I'm not going. I'm gonna go home, watch the Discovery Channel, eat then sleep." I made up my mind and started the car.

"Are you sure? Ryan doesn't mind, do you?" She asked him in the background and there was a weird noise and a 'Ow!' then I heard Ryan say, "No, I don't mind. It'd be fun."

I knew Skye had elbowed him or something to make him say that. "No thanks guys. I'll see you tomorrow Skye."

"Ok…" Skye hesitated a little. "Will you be fine?"

"I'll be fine. Bye, Skye."

"Ok. Bye Greg." She said and hung up.

I started to drive to The Strip. My plans changed, I was going to buy myself something nice with the money I was gonna use on the date, and have myself a good dinner. Then I'll head home and be alone.

As I drove to a nearby shopping plaza I kept thinking that and I was feeling a little bit more cheerful. Until I walked past a restaurant and looked in the window.

I saw 2 people laughing and eating their dinner, having a great time.

One of them was Grissom, which was a surprise because as far as I knew, he never had a life besides bugs and work. The other was Sara.

She was sitting there, happily having dinner with Grissom.

Well, this makes my day better! I thought, feeling like I was a Nobody. I was a nerd that nobody really liked, I shouldn't have expected Sara to show up, but it did come as a surprise that she ditched me for Grissom.

Of course, I must have heard the rumors about Grissom and Sara flying around the lab.

I am such an idiot.

Before Grissom or Sara could notice the poor fool gaping at them from the outside looking in, I hurried off, to my car and drove home, too depressed to do anything but crawl into my bed and sleep.

[*]

"_And we can't slow down cause more is best, it's a never ending process. Well, I miss Mayberry. Sittin on the porch, drinking ice-cold cherry Coke. Where everything is black and white."_ Skye sang as she walked into the locker room at the end of the work shift.

"Is that a country song?" I asked, making a face.

"Yeah. It's awesome, ain't it?" She said, purposely making her Southern accent more pronounced.

"Ew, gross. Can you sound any more Southern? No, wait! Don't even try. I can't even stand it now."

Skye made a face at me, but then laughed. "Fine." She said in her normal voice and turned to her locker, just across from mine. "So how was your night?"

"It was better than yesterday. We got the bodies in the morgue and it's actually pretty simple. Wifey and Husband got mad, and fought. Wife killed husband, stuffed him in the washer and collapsed a bit away from her wounds."

"So happy together, huh?" She smiled and took out a white jacket. It looked a big on her, I was sure it was Ryan's jacket.

_Were they that close enough for Skye to wear his jacket?_

"Is that Ryan's?" It just slipped out of my mouth.

"Yeah. All of mine are in the wash."

I couldn't resist. "Along with Ryan?"

Skye laughed and shook her head. "No way. I couldn't do that to _anyone._ Plus the fact that it ain't my washer, it's Nick's."

Smiling, I just grabbed my jacket.

"So how was your date with Sara?" She asked, absentmindedly, slipping on Ryan's jacket.

The subject made my face tighten. "She stood me up." I slammed the locker door shut.

Skye looked horrified. "I asked that yesterday, I'm such an idiot." Her face turned red and she looked like the perfect example of 'foot in your mouth'. "I'm sorry, Greg."

"It's fine. At least you feel bad about it." I muttered, remembering the whole awkward day with Sara.

She said she 'forgot' and I knew she didn't see me yesterday while she was out with Grissom. She didn't sound sorry, and that just made me a little mad, but mostly miserable.

"Greg, I honestly feel like the stupidest person on the planet." the pretty Southern Belle moaned, shutting her locker door.

I smiled at her. "I'm over it. It's ok."

"Sorry." She said one more time.

"So, what did you and Ryan do?"

Skye bit her lip, smiling. "Do you really wanna know?" She said mischievously.

I blushed this time. "Not anymore."

She laughed, "Nothing like that, it's always fun to see you blush. Anyways, we got lost in Vegas. Ryan, being the apparent human GPS, led us straight past the parking lot where my car was and we pretty much walked to the Strip. Finally made it to my car after 30 minutes of wandering and I drove to Ryan's hotel, left him there, then headed back to Nick's."

We started walking out of the building.

"So where's he been all day? It is night shift, and you're at work. What'd he do all day?" I asked, curious.

"He slept half the day, then said he'd go out to the casinos and play poker for a bit." Skye said.

"Oh ok."

"Greg, I found this great place in Summerlin. It's a condo, not too big, but it's nice. I just got it and there's not much in it yet, but you wanna come over? Nick and Erica are coming, possibly." Skye said, as we neared our cars, which were next to each other with just a car in-between us.

I hesitated for a second. "Sure. I'll need the address."

"Ok." She said, and handed me a piece of paper with the address scribbled on it. Her handwriting was a mix of cursive and print, the words were a little slanted and the words were blurred from the ink she wrote in.

I looked at it, reading the address, a small part of me wondering if it was the right address.

"That's the right address, I think." Skye said.

I looked up to her.

She smiled sheepishly. "I just got it, I havent really learned the address yet. I wrote it down everywhere, so hopefully I would remember. I'm sure that's the right one. But if it's not, it's nearby. I'll look for you if you can't find it, ok?"

I smiled. "Ok."

"Bye Greg!" She said and got into her car, as I got into mine. We both drove away, in different directions.

I hoped that the night would go smoothly, I didn't want another disappointment ontop of a rough day yesterday.

[*]


	10. Quit your bellyaching

_Hey guys! Sorry i'm a little random with my updates; it's crunch time at school and i can't afford to slack off like i did before. I probably still will though cuz i love my readers and want to make them happy. :) Just need a bit of motivation so that review button at the bottom? It loves you just as much as i do, and it would like for you to review. :) Just sayin. Now i guess that's it. Enjoy ya'll!_

[Skye's POV]

"What does this one do?" Ryan Wolfe asked, flicking a switch on the wall.

The fan came alive, slowly whirring, going faster.

"Obviously, that one works the fan."

Ryan turned it off and put his finger on a dimmer. "How bout this one? Does it make the fan go faster and slower?" He pushed it down slowly and the living room lights dimmed. "Oh, this is cool." He grinned, playing with the dimmer, the lights bright then low-lit the next second.

"Ryan, quit messin around with the lights." I chided, going over to him and hitting his hand.

The former patrol officer laughed, "Come on, Skye."

"Nick, Erica and Greg are going to get here any minute, quit playing with the switches! I don't know which ones do what yet, and you might flick a switch that blows up the place."

"Really? Now what kind of crazy condo did you buy that has a switch that blows the place up?" Ryan teased, still playing with the lights.

"Ryan Wolfe! Leave the lights alone!" I grabbed his hands, and pulled him away from the switches.

Ryan just laughed, letting me pull him away and I ran into the back of the sofa. He pinned me against it, looking at me. "Good lighting, huh?"

I saw that he had it dimmed, it was somewhat dark, but light enough for me to see Ryan's face.

"I suppose." I said with a slight smile.

"You look really pretty." He whispered, his face inches from mine.

"I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt." I blushed.

"Yeah, but you still look pretty." He said, and leaned in to kiss me.

My heart fluttered when his lips met mine, and I smiled when I kissed him.

I was so happy to see Ryan, I missed him more than I had known, and I felt a little guilty for forgetting him for a bit.

I only forgot about Ryan when I was hanging with Greg.

Greg had a date with Sara, and though I didn't show it outwardly, I was jealous. Ryan came and when we went out around Vegas, half my mind was on Greg and why he'd pick Sara over me. I didn't contemplate it too much when Ryan kissed me, then afterwards I felt a little bit like a tramp wishing to have 2 guys.

Ryan and I were closer, and I knew him longer; but there was just something between Greg and I. I couldn't explain it, and it was too much to think about with Ryan's presence also clouding my mind.

So for my own sake, I decided to forget about my crush on Greg, and just be happy with Ryan.

Ryan pulled back. "Is something wrong?"

I touched his cheek. "No. Just decided what I want to eat cuz I'm hungry."

"Too busy thinking about food to give me a kiss." He pouted playfully.

I laughed and kissed him quickly. "Happy now, Wolfe?"

"Yup."

Smiling, I rolled my eyes at him. "Can you help me figure out how to connect the tv?"

"Ok. But lemme let you know, when I tried it, I had to call the fire department, Horatio, and Delko to help me set it up." Ryan joked as he grabbed the tv remote.

"Oh…well then, let me keep 911 on hold." I teased, as the doorbell rang.

I went to get it and let Nick and Erica in. "Hey guys."

"Hi Skye." They smiled and looked around.

"Nice place, baby cousin." Nick grinned. "I think I'll come over a lot."

"I don't have the tv set up yet."

"I'm working on it!" Ryan yelled from the living room.

"Ryan's a professional at this." I bragged with a laugh.

Loud static filled the room and we covered our ears.

"Oops. Sorry guys." apologized Ryan.

Nick laughed. " 'Professional', huh?"

We all laughed and went into the living room where Ryan was crouched, trying to see which wires connected to what. "This is confusing."

I went over to Ryan and took the wires, and made him hold the DirecTV receiver. "Ryan, this wire with the yellow thing at the end connects to the yellow end on the receiver. Same with the red, and white. Did you get that?"

Ryan grinned. "Nah. I was too busy getting lost in your eyes."

"Awwwwww!" Erica cooed.

"Why are the lights dimmed, Skye?" Nick asked, suspiciously.

Ryan and I burst out laughing. "I was figuring out which switches did what and I discovered the dimmer. Very romantic lighting, huh?"

"It is." Erica said and Nick smiled at her.

"Not infront of Ryan. He has the maturity of a 12 year old." I said, reaching over and covering his eyes.

Ryan squirmed and pulled my hands off his face. "No I don't." He whined, sticking his tongue out at me.

Erica and Nick laughed as I took the receiver from Ryan.

"Whatever. Nick, you know how to set this stuff up right?" I asked.

He nodded and came to help. "I'll help if you get me food."

Erica took a peek into the kitchen/dining room. "There's not even a table in there."

"I'm just starting to move in, remember? And I didn't know what to get: pizza or Chinese." I said, nodding at the 2 takeout menus on the sofa.

"Chinese." Ryan and Nick said in unison.

I looked at Erica.

"Well, I think I'm in the mood for pizza…" She started.

"No!" the guys said, working on the receiver.

"So am I. It's a tie." I said.

Nick looked to us. "Why don't we get both then?"

"Fattie." I teased.

"How bout we flip a coin?" Ryan suggested, as he went to the satellite dish thing and picked it up.

The doorbell rang and I went to check it out with Erica at my heels. I opened the door and Greg stood there.

"Hi Skye!" He grinned.

"Hey Greggo." I hugged him and let him in. "Did you find the place ok?"

"Yeah." He said, as he looked around. "I like your place. I think I'm gonna be moving in with ya."

"You can share the sofa with Nicky." I laughed. "Come on, we need you to decide what we're having for dinner, and to help Ryan and Nick out setting up the tv."

"Hey Sanders!" Nick greeted Greg, as he was sitting on the sofa, looking at the directions for the set-up as poor Ryan was looking around for a place to put the satellite.

"Greg!" Ryan said, as he shifted the satellite in his arms, "pizza or Chinese?"

Greg thought for a second, then said, "Chinese, definitely."

"Yes!!" Ryan and Nick cheered.

I laughed and picked up the menu. "Ok, but I have to have my beef and broccoli."

"Skye, where do I put this thing?" Ryan asked, squirming like he was holding in a pee.

"Balcony." I pointed to the doors and Ryan went over and tried to open the French doors with his elbow.

"Skye, doesn't one of those switches like, open the doors automatically?" Ryan huffed.

"No, this ain't 2010, honey. Gotta wait til technology advances that far ahead." I teased, and Greg went over and opened the door.

"Thanks." Ryan said gratefully.

"Let me help." Greg said, and followed him outside.

"Do you have a signal, Nick?" Ryan yelled from outside.

There was this annoying beeping noise that was slowly beeping with the little bit of signal it received.

"Little bit. Turn it to the south."

"Which way is that?!"

"Your left." Nick said.

There was a clatter and a "Oh, crud." from outside.

"Your _other_ left!" Erica laughed.

"Ok. Greg, make sure Skye doesn't see that." Ryan said quickly and I went over.

"Make sure I don't see what?" I asked, suspiciously.

"Nothing!" Both guys yelled, and Greg stepped infront of Ryan.

I looked at them both. "What did ya'll do."

They looked at each other and smiled. "haha, 'ya'll'. That's funny."

I rolled my eyes and looked at the satellite, it was intact; nothing seemed wrong. I noticed what looked to be a piece of fabric on a sharp corner and looked at Greg's shirt.

His shirt was black, the piece of cloth on the satellite was blue.

Pushing Greg out of the way, I looked at Ryan. "Ryan, you're bleeding!" I saw that his shirt was torn and there was blood seeping out of a cut.

Ryan jumped away, taking the satelite with him, "No, I'm not."

"DON'T MOVE IT! That's perfect!" Nick yelled.

Ryan let go of the satelite, and it stood on it's own on its stand and he grinned. "Awesome, the tv works." He said, and backed away from me but ran into Greg.

"Ryan Wolfe, let me see." I said, taking his hand and with nowhere to go, he sighed.

"It's just a little bit of blood. Nothing bad." He said.

"Then let me see." I said, easily.

He shook his head.

"Ryan, what's that? I'm not sure what it is." Greg said, pointing to something in the distance.

Ryan went to look and I grabbed a nearby water bottle I had left on the balcony before and threw it on Ryan, clearing the blood off. Ryan jumped and yelled a little in surprise.

"Ah, it isn't that bad. Band-aid and some med spray, you should be fine." I said with a grin and walked inside with Greg.

"Greg, I didn't see anything." Ryan said, a little confused.

Greg smiled. "Neither did I."

Ryan made a face at us both and we laughed.

"Ryan, quit your bellyaching and decide what you want from the menu." Nick smirked.

"'Bellyaching'? I swear, I can't get you Southern folk." He shook his head as he went to Erica, who was ordering food for us.

The food was finally ordered, and with Greg and Ryan fighting for the seat next to me on the loveseat, I left them both to sit on it together, somewhat awkwardly as I sat next to Nick.

While the movie was on, I looked over to see if they were clawing each other's eyes out, but they were quietly laughing and sharing stories about their times in the field or the lab.

I relaxed and smiled to myself, happy that the two were getting along.

_At least that's one less thing to worry about._ I thought happily as I allowed myself to sleep peacefully.


	11. Greeneyed monster

_Sorry it took me so so SO long guys! I blame my friend, whose story is intertwined with my own. So I needed her to write some of her scenes so I could write for you guys. It took her forever, but here it is! (This chapter also has like, nothing to do with her story, btw) Thanks to you lovely totally awesome sauce people that write me reviews. It makes me happy and motivated to write more. J So… take that hint and write a review. I don't care if you yell at me for being late, or if you write to say something bout the story. Just as long as ya'll think of me and write one. Thanks guys! Now onto the story…_

(A week later.)

(Greg's POV)

"Come on! Please, please, please," I pleaded. "Give me my chips!"

The vending machine in the break room had gotten my chips stuck, dangling there; and no matter how much I pleaded, it refused to give me my chips.

"Screw you, vending machine. Screw you," I spat at the contraption and flounced out of the break room to the labs, and to Skye Stokes' lab.

I peeked in to find her at her desk, facing the wall, her head resting on her hand, reading a file infront of her. I walked in. "Hey, Skye!" I said, cheerfully.

She didn't reply or even turn her head.

"Skye?" I repeated, going to her desk.

Her hair fell over her shoulder, a dark curtain shielding her face. She was looking down, reading a file… with a blank sheet of paper on top.

I carefully and gently took her hair and pulled it back to reveal a sleeping Skye Stokes. I let go of her soft hair and it swung back into place. Bending over, I got to her level and put my face next to hers. "Skkyyee?" I said quietly and creepily.

She didn't wake.

"God, you're a heavy sleeper. You're gonna wake up," I said, and bent down, grabbing the desk's legs. "Earthquake!" I shouted, while shaking the desk.

Skye yelped, and jumped awake. She jumped out of her chair quickly, and got a head rush.

I was standing now, and grabbed her around the waist to make sure she didn't fall over. "Whoa, don't fall now," I said, amused.

Skye squirmed in my arms and I let her go. She turned to face me. "Greg! What was that for?"

"You're not supposed to be sleeping at work," I told her, smiling.

"I didn't mean to. My eyes just happened to close on their own," She smiled back, rubbing her eyes.

I gave her my best Grissom look.

Skye grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm just tired. I'm not quite adjusted to the whole graveyard-shirt thing. I've been up for hours."

"How many hours?"

"31 and counting."

"What?" I exclaimed, amazed. "How do you do that?"

"Red Bull and Skittles. That stuff is great!" Skye snickered.

I shook my head. "Maybe you should take the day off. Get some sleep."

"I won't sleep at home, I need to do something. I'm of better use here. Besides, I'm fine." She stifled a yawn and but shook her head quickly as if trying to wake herself up.

"Skye-" I started.

"I'm fine, really."

"I'll let it go for now," I said, then changed the subject. "So how's you and Ryan?"

Skye looked a little bittersweet. "We're getting along well, ya know, even with the whole thousands of miles apart thing," She said, looking a little down as she thought of Ryan so far away. "But we're both happy with each other. Glad I have him."

I looked down to her desk, and pretended to flip through a file. It made me jealous that Skye was so obviously sad about Ryan Wolfe in Miami. He had left 2 days after we all went to her house. The day he left back to Miami, Skye was somewhat quiet, missing him. I wanted to be the one she'd miss, but the thought that cheered me up and got rid of my jealousy was horrible: I would see Skye everyday without Ryan around.

But a saying rang in my mind for a moment.

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder." _Of someone else._ I thought, then immediately felt horrible for thinking that.

_Skye probably wouldn't want to be with me anyways. I mean, Sara didn't want to that one night, and Skye probably just invited me to her house because she felt bad for me. Ugh. This all just sucks. _I thought, falling into a world of self-pity. First a green-eyed monster, and I'm Johnny Raincloud.

"Greg?"

"Huh?" I snapped back to attention.

Skye was looking at me weirdly, and was holding out a file. "I said: Here's the fibers you wanted from yesterday's case."

I smiled a little. "Thanks," I said, but didn't look at the papers. "So, when's the next time you see Ryan?"

Her eyes clouded. "I don't know. Depends on his work and mine."

"Oh well." I shrugged.

Skye's eyes seemed to darken.

"Ryan's still a newbie and so are you, technically. You both have to settle in with the flow of the crime lab, ya know? Soon as you get the hang of it, you'll have more time to see him." I said, quickly; making up for that moment of total insensitivity.

Her face softened and she nodded slowly. "Yeah, I suppose."

"I suppose?"

"Yeah…" She looked at me.

I grinned. "Shouldn't you say 'I reckon?'"

Skye laughed. "I'm not that Southern, Greggo. I did live in Miami for awhile."

"Whatever."

My joke relaxed her and she finished off the chips and threw them in the trash. "It was fun having you over the other night, Greg. Glad you came." She said, sincerely and I smiled.

"I'm glad I came too."

She smiled at me, and my heart fluttered, doing flips in my chest.

How was it that just a smile from Skye could do that to me? I was really crushing on her. I could feel myself fall more for her every time I saw her, and I knew that it didn't matter if Ryan Wolfe stood in my way. He couldn't stop me crushing on her, no one could. I couldn't even stop myself.

At her home, I had seen her and Ryan together, looking at each other like they were the only two in the room, and I felt awful that I was falling for her, and that she had love in her eyes for just Ryan. It was terrible, and I had promised to stop crushing on her, because knowing me, I would break them up and I saw how happy Skye was with Ryan.

But it was the moments like these, where Skye was smiling at me, that I felt like I was in Ryan's place. The only guy in her world, and that the only person that mattered at the moment was her.

I couldn't stop liking her even if I wanted to.

Grissom came in and ruined the moment completely, and brought me down to Earth with a thud.

"Skye, I've got a riddle for you," He said.

Skye turned to him. "Go on,"

"A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him underwater for 5 minutes, then finally hangs him. But 5 minutes later, they're out to a movie. How can this be?"

"The wife's insane and the husband's a ghost?" I tried.

Skye laughed.

"No." Grissom said. "Skye?"

Skye bit her lip.

_Oh, she is so hot when she does that. _I thought.

After a minute of mumbling to herself, she grinned. "The wife's a photographer."

"What?"

"She shot a picture of her husband. She had to develop it, hold it underwater and then hang it. She's a photographer." Skye explained to me.

"Oh."

Grissom nodded, smiling. "Good job. Now quit flirting with Sanders. You both have a job to do."

Skye laughed. "We're not flirting, Grissom. And fine. I've got some stuff for you to look at, you know that double homicide case with those twins? Ok, well I found out that-" Skye started to walk off with Grissom, without saying bye.

"Bye, Skye!" I yelled after her.

She looked back at me and waved. "Later, gator!" Then she looked back to Grissom and continued to talk about a case.

I shook my head and walked into the lab again. She was so weird. She smiled at me and looked at me, like I was the only one there, then she leaves without a good bye and when she does it's cute and I cant be mad for her just leaving.

Skye Stokes was amazing.

* * *

Review please? :) Like I said, I don't care what you write, I just like reviews. Oh, and thanks for reading!


	12. No one deserves that

_Hey guys! Read the last chapter's author notes at the top and there you go for this one. I may be grounded (again) by tomorrow, I'm not sure yet; but we'll see. Read and review por favor! Thanks for checking this out, ya'll rock! _

(Skye's POV)

"_Isnt that… better?… You bastard!…slept with… Slut!"_ I heard faint yelling from my lab. It sounded familiar, and I looked up from my microscope.

I paused, lowering the volume on my music, to see if I could hear anything else. I couldn't for a minute or two, so I looked back down to my microscope.

But curiosity got the best of me and I got up, then went to the door. Looking both ways down the hall, I couldn't see anything out of the norm, except Catherine, sortof hurrying down the hall briskly.

"Cath? What's goin on?" I asked, but she didn't hear me and walked by. I watched her walk off, but Greg nearly ran into her, or she ran into him. Greg laughed, making a joke; but Catherine just walked off also.

He looked confused, looking after her. Then he turned to see me standing at the door of my lab. He walked over, with a grin. "Do you know what's up with Catherine? She didn't laugh at my joke."

"Maybe your joke sucked." I grinned.

Greg gently punched my arm. "My jokes don't suck."

"Keep thinking that, Sanders."

Greg smiled, then turned serious. "But what's up with her?"

"I don't know. I heard yelling from somewhere in the lab. Something about a bastard slut." I shrugged. "Looks like someone's in trouble."

Greg opened his mouth, but didn't start talking. A familiar female's voice interrupted him.

"What do you mean it was an accident? Did you fall into her, then out of her, then back into her?" It was louder, and I knew it was coming from somewhere down the hall. I knew the voice, the sarcasm. What she said made me want to laugh, but then again, I was too worried now.

Greg and I looked at each other, eyes communicating with words we didn't speak.

We both paused, wanting to hope that we were wrong.

She was quieter this time, and we both strained to hear.

"I cant believe I trusted you!"

At the same time, Wendy walked past, and spotted us. She walked past faster, avoiding our questioning eyes. Cath came up again, in the direction of the yelling. She also avoided our eyes.

Without a word, Greg started to hurry off in that direction, and I followed him. "Greg!"

He didn't answer, and I fell into line with Catherine. We got to the lab, and I peeked in to see Erica Sanders, her normally cheerful eyes bright with tears and a furious but also broken look on her face. Her wrists were captured by Nick Stokes, my cousin. He looked guilty and I didn't even see his face to know it.

"Erica, listen to me."

"No, let go of me, you asshole!"

I didn't want to put what I heard with what I was seeing together, but I looked at Greg, and I knew he had put two and two together as soon as he heard her yells from my lab. He looked absolutely furious and I made no move to stop him.

He rushed in ahead of me, and Cath turned to me quickly. "Skye, do not go in. We don't need anymore."

I started to protest, but she went in and I heard people behind me.

"Sanders is just in there, about ready to crack, you can see it on her face." I heard a gloating tone in particular.

I turn to see David Hodges talk to a few people that had stopped their work to stare at the unfolding drama.

"Hey!" I bark.

Hodges turned his attention to me.

"You better shut your mouth, Hodges. I'll do it for you if you want." I threatened.

He took on a smug "you cant do that to ME" face. "Yeah, right."

I marched to him, directly in his face. "You don't believe me?" I hissed, my eyes looking into his.

"Uh…"

"Shut up. Get back to your work. it's the only thing you can do, and you cant even do it well."

He looked insulted. "You cant tell me what to do, you havent been here that long. Newbie."

"When you're butting your face in somebody else's business, then I can tell you what to do. Now back off, Hodges. It's not your business."

"It's not yours either, Stokes," He said, icily.

"I said, back off! Leave them alone, and mind your own business. I'm going to send you to the Everglades smelling of meat sauce and leave you for the crocs. Remember, I've worked for the Miami-Dale PD for awhile, and I've also worked for the FBI." I said calmly, then roared. "Now back off!"

He looked a bit intimidated, seeing as I was standing next to a table of dangerous chemicals that could easily hurt him, and I was in his face. He backed away, knowing I wasn't above spilling chemicals onto him.

I grinned smugly for a moment, then turned to face the other spectators of both events. "Ya'll didn't see or hear any of it. It'll make things easier for all of us."

They all turned back to their work.

I walked out of the lab, and glared at any other people nearby watching in the hallway.

I didn't want this spreading through the PD faster than a wildfire, for Erica's sake. I wondered what Nick had done, and I shook my head.

I saw Catherine leave. With Nick, who was being escorted with a police officer. Catherine walked past me, and I looked to Nick. He didn't look at me, his head bowed, guilty.

Worry and fear surged through me. I walked with him. "Nick! What happened?"

"Skye, I didn't mean for it to be this way, it was an accident. I didn't want her to-" he stopped talking.

"What did you do?" I exclaimed, tugging at his shirt.

Nick looked at me, and I saw remorse in his eyes. "Skye, tell her I'm so sorry and I didn't mean to do it."

"_Do what?_"

He didn't answer, and they went into an elevator. I paused, I suddenly didn't want to follow.

"Nick, you suck. I'm not going to tell her!" I scowl at him, catching sight of all the people looking at him. Looking at me.

His face falls even further, if it were possible.

I sort of didn't care. My cousin was there, being escorted out of the lab by Catherine and an officer; and yet, I wasn't worried about him. I was more worried about Erica. The look on her face concerned me, and it automatically made me angry. Plus the fact that Nick wouldn't tell me what he did pissed me off also. I was his family, what could he have possible done that he couldn't tell me?

Nick looked at me, eyes pleading. I turned on my heel, and walked away. Hurrying to Erica's lab, I saw Greg coming out of it. "Greg!" I said, and stopped when I reached him.

He looked angry, worried, and the look on his face also worried me. I looked inside the lab to see Erica looking back at me.

I looked away, back to Greg. "What happened?" I demanded, more than asked.

"Nick cheated on her with a _stripper_!" Greg looked absolutely furious, but kept his voice at a whisper, so just I could hear, without everyone else getting a recap of what happened. "Erica just found out, I'm not sure how, I was just trying to calm her down, I didn't really find out everything just yet. But I will."

It came to me as a surprise and anger rose. "He did _what_?" I spat, and without waiting for Greg's answer, I walked into her lab. "Erica, I'm sorry." I told her, pulling her into a hug. "My cousin can be a stupid jerk sometimes." I let go of her.

"Thanks. It's cool, I'm glad I found out."Erica started. She continued, and I could only fume quietly on the inside, the only thing stopping me from bursting into a fury, a mental image of me strangling Nick the next time I saw him. We both spoke for just a little bit longer, and I left her lab.

Greg was waiting for me outside the lab. We walked away together without a word.

I could feel the stares, and one look on me. I looked to see Hodges, staring. A glare and the mouthing of "Everglades" was all it took for him to turn back to his work.

Greg didn't notice, he was too angry. "I can't believe him," he hissed underneath his breath. "No, wait. I can. I figured he'd do something bad. I just didn't know how bad."

"I know," I mumbled.

"Did you see her? She was so… sad. I can't stand him!" Greg's voice rose, louder and more furious.

"Greg! Shh," I whisper to him.

He shut his mouth, holding his tongue as we reached the safety of my lab. As soon as we entered, I shut the door and Greg exploded. "That _asshole_!" He roared.

I walked back to my desk, where the microscope and a pile of abandoned work waited for me. I sat down, but swiveled the chair away. I couldn't do any work. Not yet.

"What he did was unbelievable! He cheated on her with a stripper!"

I watched Greg silently, trying to control my own anger, which wasn't on the surface, but bubbling furiously on the inside.

"Did you see her, Skye? Did you see Erica's face?" Greg paced back and forth, body tense and hands balled up. His looked at me briefly, his normally calm and playful puppy dog eyes now dark with anger.

I couldn't forget her face: miserable, furious. Heartbroken.

It was a look that no one could look at and not feel a pang of sadness. Except for maybe Hodges. Possibly. I couldn't believe that such a sad look was caused by Nick.

When Greg told me, I had anger, then an epiphany. It was that it didn't really surprise me that Nick had done what he did. He was the heart throb in Fort Worth, when we were teenagers. He was also the heartbreaker. Nick had gone through plenty of girls and I had seen first-hand the pain and heartache he caused. Seeing all those girls broken by Nicky made me promise that I would never let a friend go through that.

I didn't necessarily tell Erica, I didn't warn her about what he caused, because it looked like they really liked each other, equally. And she was already dating him before I met her, before we even became friends; so my promise didn't count.

But it I still felt somewhat guilty for not actually telling/warning her about what a Casanova Nick was. But Greg must've told her about him. He's her big brother, he told her, I bet.

It didn't help that I felt a little wary of Nick dating Erica. I didn't want her to get hurt by him. It was too late for that, she got hurt and this time it just sucked more than any other time because she was my friend. My best friend already.

"Yeah, I saw her face. It… Nick's such a… I don't even know what to say!" I struggled to find words, but I couldn't. "I'm pretty pissed, I can't even really think straight. Erica doesn't deserve that, no one deserves that. Nick doesn't deserve her."

"He deserves a kick to the family jewels, that what he deserves." Greg snarled.

"Erica's too good for him."

"I know. I told her that. I told her about Nick. She didn't listen to me. I should've told her more, and she should've listened to me." Suddenly Greg looked weary.

"I kinda feel like I should've told her more about Nicky could be. But I didn't cause they both looked so happy. She looked happy."

Greg nodded, sighing. He didn't seem as angry now, just more concerned for his baby sister. "She _was_ happy," he said, and perched on the edge of my desk. His brown eyes found mine. "She really liked him. Even loved. Erica trusted him."

"Nick always ruins everything," I muttered.

"Slept with a hooker," Greg mumbled underneath his breath, shaking his head.

"Stripper," I corrected, impassively, not even thinking about it.

Greg looked like he was going to snap at me, but saw that I didn't even think about it, I just corrected him on auto-pilot. And like it mattered anyways.

"I don't understand."

"You see, hookers are-"

"Not that!" Greg looked like he wanted to smile, but his mouth seemed stuck in a pernament scowl. The best attempt he could make at a smile was a sneer. "I don't understand how she can keep working. If that happened to me, I'd be at home, alone, under the covers with a tub of Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey."

"That's cause Erica's tough," I said. Then I smiled a little, not being able to resist. "And you're a wimp."

Greg smiled finally, briefly. "Whatever. But I can't imagine how difficult it is." He became serious once again. "Can't imagine how hard it must be to have someone you love," Greg looked into my eyes and I couldn't help but feel a blush starting to heat my cheeks. "betray you like that."

Looking away, I felt my face start to cool and I thought about it, nodding my head. _It'd be horrible. If Greg ever-_ I froze mid-thought. _Not Greg. Ryan. Ryan Wolfe, my boyfriend. If Ryan ever did that to me… I don't even want to imagine how bad it'd be. Poor Erica._ I felt anger rise in me again as I imagined all the girls Nick had broken up with, and then pictured bright cheerful Erica just like them. _It shouldn't be that way._

"I need to talk to Nick," I said, an edge to my voice. I stood and walked to the door, Greg behind me. I opened the door and Grissom and Catherine appeared suddenly.

"Skye."

"Hi," I said briskly. "S'cuse me," I tried to move around Catherine.

They didn't move. "I need you to get back to work. You too, Greg," Grissom said, calmly.

"But-" we both said in unison.

"No buts!" interrupted Cath. "We've taken Nick away, and Erica is doing her job still.. I'm thinking about taking her off the case."

"Am I going to handle the evidence?" "Am I going to be on the case?" We both asked.

Cath shook her head. "No. Neither of you can, it's obviously too personal," She said firmly, but her face softened. "You can talk to Nick later. He's ok and-"

"Ok?" Greg spat.

"I don't care if he's ok. I just need to talk to him," I said, somewhat coolly.

Catherine looked a little surprised. "He's your cousin!"

"Erica's my best friend. Nick and I weren't really all too close anyways. That just about evens it out, right?" I said. "I need to talk to him now, please Catherine."

"Later. It's a busy day, we need you two working. We can deal with this later." Grissom said.

"Fine." We both gave in. It was the voice that we both knew that there was no point in fighting, he wasn't going to give in.

I headed to my desk, and Greg went to the door. He looked back at me.

"Later."

"Later," I replied and watched Greg leave.

Grissom and Catherine looked pleased that we didn't put up much of a fight.

But Greg and I knew that a bigger fight would be coming soon.


	13. Stokes vs Stokes

_Hey guys! Sorry it took me a bit over a week (last time, it was nearly months; I'm getting faster at updating!) but here it is! Oh and a mega huge shoutout to Marril96 who was awesome enough to write me a review. :D Thank you!_

I looked at the clock for the 30th time in two hours. The long hand finally landed on the 12 and I took off my lab coat. "I'm off shift!" I announced to everyone in the room. Which was no one save for me and a dead guy's thumb.

I left my lab and clocked out. I went to the locker room and grabbed my bag and jacket. Some of the other "lab rats" were coming in, now that shift ended and usually I would talk and gossip with some of them, but today I was in a hurry to leave. Well, get to another part of the building.

Closing my locker, I started to leave, but was stopped when I ran straight into Henry.

"I'm so sorry, Henry," I said, flustered. "It was an accident."

"No problem. What's the hurry?"

"Nothin. Just gonna go find something to eat before rush hour."

Henry smiled down at me. "Skye… every hour in Vegas is pretty much rush hour. You've been here for like, 2 weeks. I think you would know that by now."

"Excuse me. I'm Southern. I'm a tad slow at adjusting to the fast pace of this city," I drawled in a thicker Southern accent than usual, making me sound like a redneck.

Laughing, Henry moved to go to his locker. "Well, sorrrry," he chuckled. "Get adjusted faster though. It's gonna be useful here."

"Noted," I said, then left.

I headed back upstairs and ran into Catherine. "Cath! Where's Nick?"

She looked at her watch. "Wow, is it already-?"

"Yup, I'm off shift now. Where's Nick?" I repeated, patiently.

"Interrogation room 2. Brass was in here earlier." Cath said, and she started walking with me there. "Ya know, Skye, I have a feeling that you're going to be harsher and tougher than Brass in there."

"Most likely," I admitted. "Just be lucky Greg isn't there. He would've had Nicky stuffed in a box being shipped back to Fort Worth."

Catherine laughed a little. "You're talking about our Greg? Greg Sanders?"

"Stuffing my buff Texan cousin into a box… Yeah, maybe not; but yeah, our Greggo," I smiled.

"All right. Well, there he is. I've got to head back up and check on Erica."

I hadn't seen her since the whole incident hours earlier. "Good idea. I think she's fine. Or giving the appearance that she's fine."

Cath shrugged. "Try to not beat him up too much. I need to see him later on."

"Ok." I opened the door to the viewing room. I peeked in to see Nick on the other side of the one-way mirror, head on the table. "I'll do my best," I told her as she walked away.

I looked at Nick for a moment, then entered the interrogation room. Nick didn't look up and I went to the table. I didn't know if he was sleeping or sulking, so I just slammed my hand down on the glass table near his head and he shot up straight.

"What the-"

"Hi, cousin," I said, in monotone.

Nick looked like a mix of two emotions: relief and fear. "Hi, Skye…" He paused, then said, "Did you tell Erica?"

"Tell Erica what?" I roared. "That you're sorry for cheating on her by having sex with a two cent hooker?"

Nick seemed to shrink. "…Yes?"

"No, I did _not_ tell her!"

"Why not?"

I leaned towards him, my eyes narrowing. "Because, Nick-" I spat out his name. "You're not sorry."

Sitting up, Nick put his elbows on the table and looked at me. "I am sorry."

"No, you're not."

"And why am I not sorry for cheating on my girlfriend?"

"That's why. For cheating on your girlfriend. You're not sorry! You're just sorry you got caught."

"I am not! I seriously am sorry!" Nick insisted, sounding angrier, which just fueled my own temper.

"You're sorry you got caught!" I yelled. "You're not sorry about cheating on her, are you? I mean, you're Nick Stokes, Fort Worth heart throb, used to getting any girl you wanted. Why would you feel sorry for cheating on Erica? You don't care. You just wanted sex and because Erica was smarter than the rest of those bubble-brained chicks you've got; she didn't let you into her pants."

Nick lost it, he got up; the chair flying back. He reached over the table and grabbed one of my arms tightly in his strong hand. "Skye Adrianna Stokes! You've gone too far. You don't know me, you never did! You don't know Erica either. Don't judge me, Skye."

"I can judge you, because I do know you. I know Erica. She's my best friend. I can judge you since I can see for what you are right now… A man-whore." I said, looking straight into Nick's dark eyes.

Nick's hand flew up to hit me, but like when we were kids; I quickly dodged his hit, and with my free hand, slapped him hard. "You know it's true, Nick! Otherwise you wouldn't have cheated!"

My slap sent him reeling back, he let go of my arm and glared at me, his cheek turning red. He didn't have anything to say.

A moment of silence passed, our anger in the air.

"Why do you even care? It's not your business. It's mine and Erica's."

"It's my business because Erica's my best friend and you cheated on a stripper that's dead now. Don't you think that at least makes it my business too?"

Nick looked betrayed. "So you don't even care about me? I'm your cousin! We're bound by blood, we're _family_. Doesn't that mean _anything_ to you?"

His question, if anything, pissed me off more. "Of course it means something to me. But you make me wish I weren't related to you. A member of the family cheating on his awesome girlfriend for sex. Brilliant, Nicky. Just fantastic!" My voice dripped with venomous sarcasm.

"See, you don't care about me. About what I'm going through."

"How can I see what you're going through? You're just a… you just ruined something with a genuinely awesome chick. Erica was my favorite of all the girls you've dated. I would've had a cousin-in-law that I actually liked. Nick, I just can't see from your point of view because I don't feel sorry for you. I just don't."

Nick looked even more guiltier and had more regret in his eyes. "So, just great. My own cousin doesn't even care enough to ask if I was ok, if I'm just fine with being involved in a murder case. Family rocks."

"I know you're ok, because you're sulking and because you're still alive. Luckily for you, this is my favorite Queen shirt and I don't want blood on it. Plus the whole 'fine with being involved in a murder case' thing, well, you wouldn't be in that mess if you didn't decide to be a slut yourself and go find a tramp to sleep with."

I knew my words hurt and cut him deep, because Nick had to look away to his feet and was utterly silent. I started heading to the door. "Nick, after you and Cath left in the elevator, Greg told me what happened. And you know what?"

"What?" Nick mumbled.

"I wasn't even that surprised. How horrible is that?" I stated. "Oh, and when you left, I looked to Erica and I could see that you hurt her bad. It was the saddest look I've ever seen on a person's face. And what pissed me off most was the fact that you caused it. You alone. Congratulations, Nick! You've ruined everything."

Nick looked crushed.

I couldn't resist one last blow as I put my hand on the doorknob. "You've ruined what you and Erica had and now you've got no girl. Too bad that hooker died. But then again, what would she do? You probably didn't even mean anything to her. Unlike Erica… Now, I've got to go see how she's doing. I'll leave you with one last question. That's it. Just one question and you can think about it for awhile, since you've got a bunch of time to think about it."

"What?"

"Was everything; ruining your relationship with Erica, getting caught, having your hooker die, getting caught in the web you made… was it worth it?" I asked.

Nick looked serious as he thought and I slipped out of the room.

* * *

(Greg's POV)

Skye left the room and jumped, spotting me. "Oh! Greg, God, you scared me."

I smiled a little. "Sorry. I tend to scare people sometimes."

"Are you serious?" Skye asked, sarcastic.

I nodded then looked to Nick, who was sitting in his chair again, head in hands.

"How long have you been there?"

"Since you got in there," I stated. "I saw you and Cath in the hallway, so I decided to be a creeper-spy and follow you guys. I waited til she left and you got in there, then I went in here to watch the show. It was… spot on, really. Didn't know you had it in you… to tell off your own cousin."

Skye blushed. "He deserved it. All of it."

"He did. My own arguments fell short of yours. I haven spoken to him, but that just about cut him down; so I don't see the point of saying anything to him," I said.

We both looked to him, standing side-by-side. "I can't believe he ruined everything with Erica." Skye murmured.

"I checked up on her. She's ok. At least that's what she insists on saying. I'm not sure what to do. Take her out to dinner and take her mind off Nick or leave her alone for a bit."

Skye pursed her lips as she contemplated that. "I don't know, Greggo. It depends."

"How do you know?"

"It's what girls do. We think about it and want to do nothing and be around no one for a bit afterwards. Or we want to keep our minds off the fact that we've been dumped or cheated on."

"How would you know?

Skye looked at me. "Cuz I've been through it. Not as traumatic, of course; but being cheated on sort of sucks, ya know?"

_Uh, no, I actually wouldn't know. I haven't dated any chick long enough to be cheated on. _"Yeah… I can't believe you've been cheated on though. Who would want to cheat on you? Crazy guy."

"Linebacker on our high school's football team. Cheated on me with the co-captain of the cheering squad." Skye looked totally indifferent about it, shrugging.

"He missed out then. But why the co-captain? Why not the captain of the cheer squad?"

Skye grinned. "Because I was the captain."

"Linebacker, right? Why not the captain of the football team?"

"Cause that'd be incest and disgusting. The captain was Nicky."

"Of course, why didn't I think of that? Both of you guys captains." I laughed. "But hey, whatever. His loss."

"Yeah. I moved on. Hopefully Erica can do the same."

Getting serious, I nodded. "Yeah. I don't know how to handle a sniffly crying heartbroken little sister. I can handle a giggly happy love-struck little sister."

"Well, be prepared with tissues, patience, and ice cream." Skye started heading to the door.

"Yeah." I said, as I followed. We left the rooms and started to head back to the lab. "Oh, and here." I gave Skye a little tape from my pocket.

She took it and frowned, looking at me. "What is it?

"The recording of what went down in there. Just yours, that is. I left Brass' in there. But I didn't want them to hear and stuff. The rumors are already spreading like a Cali wildfire, I don't want that to be heard either. More for your sake than Nick's."

Skye dropped in into her bag. "Thanks, Greg."

"No problem."

"Ya know, Greg…" Skye said as I walked with her to the elevator. "It's just the beginning of everything. This is going to be long."

"And rough," I added.

She looked thoughtful.

"But cheer up, Skye. We'll help Erica out through this if she wants us. Things are going to get better."

She smiled then said, "Yeah… But things get worse before they get better."

"Maybe we can break that fact."

"Maybe. I'll see you tomorrow. Or maybe later. I'll drop off a tub of Chunky Monkey ice cream," Skye smiled, getting into the elevator.

I smiled back. "Thanks."

"Good luck."

"Thanks again. I have a feeling I'll need it today."

* * *

_That's all for today! Oh yeah and just one more thing: Reviews are love. :)_


End file.
